


Piece by Piece

by Strangexunusual



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Apologies, Danger, Dreams, F/M, Fights, Fist Fights, Forgiveness, Gen, Headcanon, Headcanon Accepted, Multi, Peace, Prophecy, Prophetic Dreams, Prophetic Visions, Psychic Abilities, Psychic Bond, Reunions, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Spiritual, Threats, Threats of Violence, Violence, Visions, Wishes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:20:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 37
Words: 36,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26713627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangexunusual/pseuds/Strangexunusual
Summary: Lydia makes a wish upon a shooting star she sees one night that Betelgeuse will one day return and seek forgiveness even though she shrugs it off as just a silly little story. Life continues on for the happy Maitland-Deetz family of five as it should be and Lydia soon forgets all about the wish that she had made that one night, believing it to be nothing but a dream.But when Betelgeuse does happen to return to the house seeking forgiveness from the Maitland-Deetzes, Lydia begins to realize that wishes may be granted if she wants them to be.
Relationships: Adam Maitland/Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz, Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Charles Deetz & Delia Deetz & Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland, Charles Deetz/Delia Deetz, Lydia Deetz & Adam Maitland & Barbara Maitland
Comments: 39
Kudos: 50





	1. I Wish of a Return

Lydia sat at her window, peering sadly out of it at the stormy summer sky outside. It was supposed to be sunny that day, as per what Delia had read from the weather app on her phone, the storm was unexpected. She was letting out sighs as she was thinking about all the fun times she had had with Betelgeuse that same week she, her dad, and Delia had moved into this house. But that was over a year ago and she was already starting to miss him.

But she still knew how her parents, her family, felt about all the demon had done and did not want him back in their lives/afterlives. He was deemed a bad influence on Lydia within a week of his departure back to the Netherworld and any and all mention or utterance of his name was strictly forbidden as a result of a series of house rules. In the year that followed everything that had happened, Lydia had remained depressed and no one in her family could do anything to help her out. All efforts proved useless. Charles and Delia tried taking her to a psychologist, that didn't work. Charles and Delia tried taking her to a psychiatrist, that didn't work. Delia tried to life coach Lydia again like she used to, that didn't work. They tried family group therapy sessions once a week, nada. The family was running out of options on how to help Lydia, they didn't know what else to do.

Maybe, just maybe, they would allow Betelgeuse back into their lives. But even that seemed unlikely in the near future. 

Lydia let out her longest sigh and face planted into her window sill to take a much needed nap. It was all she could do now, since she was told repeatedly to behave anytime she would reenact all the chaos she and Betelgeuse did together. Her family didn't know this, but it was her way of remembering Betelgeuse. And they didn't need to know this, because she was keeping it secret from them for until Betelgeuse may show up again. But she still knew how bad it was to keep secrets from others. Everyone in her family had secrets they didn't want everyone else to know of, so she guessed she was fine. 

"Lydia, wake up, it's almost dinnertime and we want to talk to you," came Barbara's voice from behind the teenage girl. Lydia woke up from her short, minute-long nap and rubbed at her hazel brown eyes before turning her head to look over at a smiling Barbara, who was currently phased halfway through her bedroom door and waiting for her. Lydia stood up from her seat at her window sill and began to walk over towards Barbara. 

"What is it, Barb?" Lydia asked, coming to a stop in front of her ghost mother and allowing her to phase out of the door before opening it and joining Barbara outside. Together, they began to head downstairs. "Have you guys given up on trying to find ways to help cure me of the remnants of my depression?"

"No," teased Barbara sternly with a laugh as the two of them entered the kitchen and Lydia went to sit down at the kitchen table and waited for her dinner whilst Barbara went to help Delia finish making the dinner (which was only for Lydia, Charles, and Delia. Adam and Barbara could join in if they wanted to, but they usually didn't as they didn't need to eat anymore, which was fine with the Deetzes. The Maitlands often spent their times at the kitchen table having conversations with the Deetzes). Charles and Adam were in the living room and chatting away about guy stuff.

"Then what did you guys want to talk to me about?" asked Lydia, curiously. 

Barbara carried three plates of spaghetti over to the kitchen table with her powers and set them down in front of the seats usually reserved for the Deetzes and went to sit in her usual seat (which was next to Adam. Charles and Delia sat across from them and Lydia took the seat at the end of the table, which was a perfect arrangement for the five of them) whilst Delia went to tell Charles and Adam that it was dinnertime.

"Delia looked online not too long ago and found a local therapist for you to try," explained Charles as he, Delia, and Adam joined Lydia and Barbara at the kitchen table. 

"Ugh! Dad, are you freaking kidding me? Another appointment with another doctor!" grunted Lydia, looking annoyed at the sound of this. "You tried a psychologist, a psychiatrist, Delia tried to cure me of my depression by putting me through another one of her life coaching sessions, we have family group therapy sessions once a week, and now you're taking me to a therapist? Why?!"

"Lydia, listen to me," replied Charles. "We don't have to go to this therapist if you don't want to. Delia hasn't scheduled you an appointment yet."

"Yes, dad, that is exactly what I don't want," said Lydia in an even more annoyed tone than before. 

"I don't appreciate your tone, young lady." Charles stood up and did not look happy, which was usually a bad sign.

Delia stood up as well and held a crystal out towards Charles. "Let's get rid of the tension that's rising and giving this room a sort-of bad, negative energy, hmmm?"

Charles calmed down and nodded, him and Delia sitting back down and the five of them continuing on with their dinner. 

A little while later, when it was dark and a clear sky outside and the storm from earlier had cleared up, Lydia had gone back upstairs to her room to do some more secret sulking over missing Betelgeuse. There was supposed to be a meteor shower at some point that night according to Delia but Lydia had the feeling she would miss it as she had to go to sleep soon. But who knew, she could still see one.

She lifted her head up and glanced at the stars outside, her eyes widening as she saw a red shooting star. Now she knew she had to make a wish.

'I wish Betelgeuse would be back,' she said quietly in her mind. 

She looked around her room in hopes that her wish would come true then frowned as she found no sign of Betelgeuse anywhere. Charles shouted up to her to get herself ready for bed and she went about it, putting on her black, ghost-patterned pajamas. 

"Yeah, I was right," she said to herself as went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. "It really is nothing but a story. Wishes really don't come true. I should have known that when I wished he would return. It's not going to work."


	2. Conversations

Lydia should have guessed it wouldn't work.

She woke up the next morning, at around half past eight (which was unusual for her, she usually woke up around quarter to eight to get ready for the day then go up to the roof to have her daily talk with the Maitlands). Her eyes widened as she scrambled out of bed and she rushed getting ready, not really caring that her hair was messy as she rushed downstairs for breakfast.

The Maitlands were already in the kitchen, Barbara standing over by the stove and preparing some scrambled eggs for Lydia whilst Adam sat at the counter with his reading glasses on and his eyes scanning an article in the newspaper Charles gave to him. He looked up as Lydia took a seat next to him and awaited for Barbara to give her her breakfast. She guessed her dad and Delia were at work, as they had left their daily note to the Maitlands on the fridge.

"Morning, Lyd. You're up late. What happened?" he asked. 

"I think I overslept," replied the teen, face planting onto the counter and then waking up when Adam nudged her. 

"We were worried when you didn't come out to the roof this morning," said Barbara as she levitated a steaming plate of scrambled eggs over towards Lydia and set them down in front of the teenager. "We feared something happened." 

Lydia took a bite of her eggs and looked up towards Barbara before moving her glance over towards Adam. "I'm so, so, so sorry, you guys. I'll make it up to you tomorrow. I promise. It was a mistake that I hope never happens again."

“We know that, Lydia,” said Barbara, smoothing out the teen’s hair. “What exactly happened last night that made you sleep in for once? Did you stay up late or something?” That last sentence was spoken in a teasing tone of voice, which made Lydia giggle and Adam roll his eyes in a playful way. 

“I saw a shooting star right before I got ready for bed,” explained Lydia with a yawn and the Maitlands nodded in understanding. “I managed to make a wish before it disappeared from my sight.”

“And what was the wish?” asked Barbara, curious. 

“If I told you, you guys would probably get too mad and overprotective over me and even I think that’s a little overdoing it. And even if I did tell you guys, it probably wouldn’t come true. Not that I expect it to anyway.”

“I promise we won’t get too overprotective over you,” replied Barbara, resting a hand on Lydia’s shoulder and giving her a smile. “You can tell us what your wish was. It’s okay, it’s okay.”

‘There goes it possibly coming true,’ Lydia thought quietly to herself as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. “I wished Betelgeuse would come back.”

The Maitlands looked at each other with worry then moved Lydia over to the couch so they could have a little talk with her. The teen was sniffling like crazy and pleading with the Maitlands not to be mad at her over and over and over again. The Maitlands sat on opposite sides of the teenager and Barbara rested a hand around her shoulder whilst Adam rubbed comforting circles into her back. All of this seemed to calm Lydia down as she stopped sniffling and buried her head against Barbara’s chest. 

Barbara used her other hand to stroke Lydia’s hair. “We’re not mad at you, Lydia. It’s totally understandable why you want Betelgeuse to come back and why you wished that he would come back. But you know that we were never going to allow him back into our house even if he did happen to return seeking forgiveness from us. He’s deemed himself a threat to you, to us, to your dad and Delia, and would be a potential threat to any living being he comes into contact with. He’s done some bad things to the five of us that do not earn him our trust or our forgiveness even so. Which is why he has to stay away from us. You know that, right?”

Lydia nodded in understanding but the Maitlands could sense that she was still sad. The two ghosts wrapped their arms around Lydia in a much needed hug and she melted into their cold embrace before the three of them pulled apart. 

“But what will we do if he really wants us to forgive and trust him?” asked Lydia, looking from one Maitland to the other hoping for an answer. Both ghosts thought for a moment. 

“Then we have to give him a second chance, have to give him our trust. It’s going to be hard because he’s revealed himself as a threat to us but we’re trying to be sweet and nice ghosts not mean. Now that I think about it, us turning him away would make us mean ghosts and not nice. Maybe giving him a second chance is the right thing to do after all. He knows we’re upset at him but we don’t want him to think that’s what we think of him the next time he shows up, if he shows up. If he does, we’ll try our very best to treat him like a part of the family.”

“Exactly,” said Lydia, nodding in agreement. 

“And I know you miss him,” continued Barbara. “And the more we will think about it, the more I guess we’ll miss him too. Now, let’s keep this conversation a secret. We don’t want your dad to find out we went against the no mentioning Betelgeuse’s name rule. Deal?” Barbara extended her pinkie finger out towards Lydia.

Lydia linked her pinkie finger with Barbara’s. “Deal!”


	3. Speak of the Devil

As the days went on, Lydia and the Maitlands never mentioned anything about Lydia's wish that Betelgeuse would come back to Charles and Delia (although they had been noticing that they were behaving weirdly around them and didn't know why) and life went on for the five of them. Lydia had since forgotten all about the wish she'd made that one night that Betelgeuse would someday return and seek forgiveness, believing it to be nothing but a story. It was nearing fall and soon, another school year had started and Lydia and her family were not prepared for it. 

Charles, Delia, and Barbara entered Lydia's bedroom at around a quarter after five in the morning on the first day of school and Barbara shook her awake. The teen grumbled in response.

"Ugh... just... five more minutes," the teen mumbled, grabbing a nearby pillow and putting it over her face. 

"No, sweetie, you need to get up now." Barbara removed the pillow and helped Lydia out of bed. She summoned Lydia's school uniform out of the teen's closet and dressed her (with a flash of light to cover the fact that she wasn't wearing any clothes at the moment). The flash of light soon disappeared and Barbara led Lydia out of her bedroom with Charles and Delia following. As the teen got herself ready to go to school, Barbara, Charles, and Delia headed downstairs and joined Adam in the kitchen. "Isn't this exciting?" asked Barbara as she prepared the teen's lunch and organized it, putting it in the teenager's ghost shaped lunch bag. "Lydia's first day of a full year of school here in Connecticut!"

"Geez, Barb," said Adam as Barbara levitated Lydia's lunch bag in her black skull print backpack. "You're treating today like it's Lydia's first day of school ever. She's not a small child, she's a teen."

"I said it was her first day of a full year of school in Connecticut, Adam, not her first day of school ever. There's a difference," laughed Barbara.

"I was joking!"

"I know!"

"I think I'm going to be sick," lied Lydia in a teasing voice as she came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Her family knew she was just teasing them and burst into laughter and she joined in too after about thirty seconds. The laughing fit soon subsided. 

"Ready for your first day of a full year of school, sweetie?" asked Barbara as she levitated Lydia's backpack over near the door. 

Lydia nodded. "Uh huh. Hopefully I will get to make some more friends this time around. I have to say, homeschooling for the last year has been one of the most strange and unusual things ever. Since I was never the new girl at a school before moving here last may, I guess I can't wait to see how my first day of my first full year of school plays out."

"Speaking of which, are you driving or are you catching the bus?" asked Adam as Lydia finished her breakfast and picked up her backpack. Not too long ago, Lydia had been given the Maitlands' car as a surprise when she got her driver's license and she couldn't ask for more than that. 

"I'm driving, duh! What else would I do?" Lydia laughed. 

"Right," was Adam's reply. 

"Well, better get going so I'm not late for school," said Lydia, opening the door. "See you guys after school."

A chorus of "Bye, Lydia! Good luck at school" sounded and Lydia waved goodbye to her family as she headed out the door to go to school.

"What do we do now?" asked Barbara as she began washing the dishes. 

"I guess all we can do is wait for Lydia to return home from-." Adam stopped, hearing a sort of strange sound. The others stopped and turned towards him, all slightly concerned and/or worried for him. 

"What's going on, Ad?" asked Barbara, putting all the clean dishes, cups, and silverware in the appropriate cups and drawers before floating over towards him. Charles and Delia joined them, looking slightly scared as if they knew something was up.

"I hear something but I don't know what it is. I'm kinda afraid to find out," admitted the male ghost. The others nodded in agreement.

The sound of evil, gravelly laughter filled the room and all four of the adults huddled closely together, looking both scared and angry. Overhead, the lights flickered ominously and flashed from green and back multiple times in a matter of seconds, leading to all the adults believing that the power was going to go out instead of what was actually happening at the moment. Black and white stripes stretched over the walls and the same gravelly laughter from earlier was heard again. 

"Betelgeuse, you monster! What do you want and why are you here?!" barked Charles with the rest of the adults growling in agreement. "Get out of the house this instant!"

"Oh, dear Chucky boy! I'm here to earn forgiveness from you guys. I heard Lydia wish that I would someday return and seek forgiveness from you guys that fateful night three months ago all the way in the Netherworld," Betelgeuse laughed as he appeared in all his glory in the center of the living room, smirking evilly at all the adults, who were all now huddled together and standing on the couch. They each sported angry looks on their faces, their teeth grit and their eyes narrowed. Their fists were raised as if they were preparing for a fight against the demon (which, to be fair, they were). 

"Well, if you came for forgiveness, you aren't getting any!" spat the Maitlands, having both forgotten that they had a conversation with Lydia where they had promised the teenager that they would forgive Betelgeuse if and when he ever showed up. 

"Babs! Sexy!" Betelgeuse extended an arm out towards Barbara and was about to dip her into a kiss when Adam appeared in front of them and pulled Barbara away from him. 

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" Adam demanded angrily, holding Barbara close to him. The female ghost was sniffing and crying ghostly tears as she held onto Adam for comfort. Even Charles and Delia were concerned, yet still angry, jumping off the couch and standing over by the Maitlands as if protecting them like they protected Lydia from harm. The two ghosts weren't considered part of the family for nothing. "You never explained to us why you are here again in the first place?!"

"I'm glad you asked, Sexy." Betelgeuse smirked again, adding a gravelly "it's showtime!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little clarification: in order to avoid confusion, it’s Lydia’s first year of going to school. She was homeschooled for at least a year because she was still dealing with the death of her mother after the events of the musical.


	4. My Reasons Why

"Tell us why you're here or go back to the Netherworld where you belong!" snapped Barbara out of rage, pulling away from Adam and stomping lightly and soundlessly over towards Betelgeuse with her fist raised and shaking. The anger on her face had become a lot more obvious than it had been previously and was showing more clearly. She jabbed a finger in the area where Betelgeuse's stomach would be and growled ferociously before taking a swing at and hitting him in the face. Adam, Charles, and Delia went to stand next to the female ghost, all proud of what she had just done. 

"Good job, honey," said Adam, resting a hand on her back. His gaze flicked to Betelgeuse, who now lay on the floor pretending to be unconscious. "Now, Betelgeuse, tell us the reason why you're here!"

"I'm glad you asked, sexy!" Betelgeuse sprung up. "Like I said, I heard Lydia's wish three months ago that I would eventually return to this place and seek forgiveness from the lot of you. Speaking of scarecrow, where is she?"

"At school, not that she'd be thrilled to see you when she gets home!" snapped Barbara as she folded her arms. "I seriously doubt she would."

"And I seriously hope she will," replied Betelgeuse with a smirk. "Otherwise she wouldn't have wished for my return."

"Wait.... if she wished for you to return and seek forgiveness from us, which, I may add, is not happening until she gets home, three months ago, how come it took you that amount of time to show up here?" questioned Adam, looking suspicious. 

"Adam, Adam, Adam," tsked Betelgeuse. "Three months ago here was practically three hours ago in the Netherworld. So I heard Lydia's wish made three months ago not too long before I got here. Have you and Babs seemed to have forgotten that time moves differently for the dead?" 

"No... I, uh. We still remember that..." stammered Adam. 

"But you seem to have forgotten that conversation with Lydia about how you promised her that you two would forgive me for my actions, again, three months ago?" teased Betelgeuse, raising an eyebrow and grinning wickedly.

"Your... what now?" demanded Charles, he and Delia looking astonishingly and confusedly at the Maitlands from where they were standing. 

Ignoring Charles, Barbara spat, "how do you know about that? Have you been spying on us?"

"What? Nooo..." Betelgeuse's hair turned a mix of purple and blue as he adopted a sincere, innocent look on his face that the Maitland-Deetz adults were not buying. "Why would I?" he lied. "I spent a while in the Netherworld after I left you guys to it, remember?" 

"Well, if you weren't spying on us, then how did you find out about our conversation?" Adam asked. 

"Okay, okay, I admit I was spying on you. I had to make myself invisible so none of you could notice I was there. Then I hid within the shadows," said Betelgeuse coolly. 

All four of the adults growled in perfect sync and Charles took the first move, lunging towards Betelgeuse and pinning him into the ground with a fist raised just above his head. The living male's teeth were grit and his eyes were narrowed (same as everyone else, who were all equally as angry). Just as Charles prepared to punch Betelgeuse, the demon teleported out from under him, reappearing in the air and smirking down at them. Charles stood up and all four adults got even angrier as they looked up at Betelgeuse and snarled.

"We'll take it from here," said Barbara as she and Adam took to the air and lunged at the demon at once. 

Barbara tried to take in a hit from behind but Betelgeuse moved out of the way, his back now facing Adam. He chuckled as Barbara tried to take another hit, his eyes widening as he felt Adam sucker punch him from behind. He turned towards the male ghost but Adam grabbed a hold of his arm and swung him around, throwing him into a nearby wall and causing it to crack. Betelgeuse’s eyes were blurry and he could make out the shapes of Adam’s and Barbara’s forms flying towards him (since when did they have wings? Then Betelgeuse realized they must be in the state ghosts enter when they get extremely enraged or pissed off about something. The things ghosts could do in that state were not pretty). He barely had time to get out of the way, as Adam and Barbara delivered strong punches to his face. Both ghosts grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him into the wooden floor.

They hissed in unison as they prepared their next attack.

“Guys, stop! This isn’t like you!” Delia called out to the Maitlands, her and Charles looking worriedly up at the two angry ghosts. 

“We won’t stop until he’s taken care of!” snarled Barbara. She and Adam dove down towards Betelgeuse and only stopped in their tracks when Charles and Delia stood in between them and Betelgeuse. 

“We want to remember the nice, sweet Maitlands that we got to know over time,” said Delia with dignity, knowing Lydia would say the same thing if she happened to not have gone to school that day. “Not the angered Maitlands that revealed themselves to us right now. Please stop this. Please.” 

The Maitlands went back to normal and floated back down towards the ground. They looked over at Betelgeuse, who looked to be pretty beaten up from what they had done to him. The fighting was the only thing they could think of doing at the moment and now, they did not understand why they felt the need to attack Betelgeuse. They looked to Charles and Delia for answers as Betelgeuse snapped his fingers and made all the bruises and cuts he had endured from the attic disappear and the two living adults let out sighs.

“What do we do now?” asked Adam as he helped Betelgeuse up and apologized to him for what had happened along with Barbara, Charles, and Delia. 

“First, we have to send Betelgeuse up to Lydia’s room and then we have to chill out on the couch and pretend like nothing’s wrong even when she asks,” said Charles.

“But she still notice the cracks in the wall caused by us throwing Betelgeuse hard into the wall,” pointed out Barbara, earning nods of agreement from the rest of the adults. 

“Then we’ll tell her that a Sandworm crashed in through the wall and tried to eat us, Barbara, honey,” said Adam.

“She won’t buy it though,” replied Barbara. “She can tell when we’re lying. Have you noticed that you and I tend to become extremely transparent and see-through whenever we lie from now on.”

“I haven’t really been paying attention,” admitted Adam, earning him a playful swat in the shoulder and a giggle from Barbara.

Hearing the sound of a car pulling into the garage, all four adults motioned for Betelgeuse to teleport himself into Lydia’s bedroom and they went over to the couch to chill out and act like nothing was wrong. 

It was time to put their plan into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, the Maitlands showing a side of them that’s unlike them? Don’t worry, this isn’t the only time they’re going to show their violent side, it will come into play in a later part of the story.


	5. Sweet Release of Friendship

Lydia opened the door and immediately noticed that her family was chilling on the couch and acting weirder than they usually did. What could have happened whilst she was at school all that day? She laughed as she put her school bag on the counter and made her way over towards the couch and sat herself down in between Adam and her dad, resting her arms around their shoulders and leaning back to relax. 

"What've you guys been up to while I was gone?" Lydia tease-asked, pretending to be the grown up of her family for once.

"Nothing. We just had a fairly normal day," all four of them lied at once. Lydia looked over at Adam and Barbara and let out a chuckle. Transparent. She knew something was up and she didn't know what it wa-

A crash sounded from upstairs, from Lydia's room.

Lydia stood up and glanced up at the ceiling for a while before shaking her head and starting on her way over towards the stairs to go and check it out. Behind her, her family was making gestures at her to not go upstairs at a time like this but she was far more focused on finding and checking out the source of the crash she'd heard. Once upstairs, she pushed open her bedroom door to find...

Her chair toppled over and Betelgeuse laying on the floor a few feet away from it. 

She didn’t seem surprised to see him there. Suppressing a giggle, she simply walked over and helped her best friend (or should he be considered her ex-best friend? She wasn’t quite sure yet) up, moving him over to her bed and sitting him down. She went over and picked her chair up, rolling it over to the side of the bed where Betelgeuse sat facing her and sitting down. He looked down and nervous, not wanting to maintain eye contact with her like he was a troublesome child and she was the angry parent. He felt like she was as angry as the rest of her family was and try to attack him like they did. 

“What’s wrong?” she asked, the first words spoken after a few minutes of silence. 

“Nothing,” he admitted. Now he decided he would look over at Lydia and the teen saw clear ghostly tears in his eyes. 

“You’re back,” she said. “I guess wishing for your best friend- oh, I don’t know if I should keep calling you that after what you did- to come back or making any wish at all isn’t a silly story after all.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to refer to me as your best friend, Lydia,” he replied, once again glancing down towards the ground. “I don’t care.”

“What happened downstairs that made my family act like nothing was up?” asked Lydia out of confusion. In a way, she was concerned. Betelgeuse had seemed to have summoned more clothes to wear once Lydia had asked that unnerving question. “Beej, is something wrong?” She stood up and moved a scarf he had used to cover his face out of the way, spotting a clear bruise on his face. “Betelgeuse, how did you get that? I didn’t even know that demons could bruise. Can ghosts bruise easily too?” Okay, now she was getting too curious. 

“No,” he said. “Demons are different from ghosts. While demons like me bruise easily and feel pain, ghosts can’t feel any pain so they can’t get injured. And I kinda made your family attack me.”

Lydia adopted a panicked look on her face. She needed to talk to her family about this and she needed Betelgeuse downstairs as well. Of course, she could run the risk of her family maybe getting mad all over again and attacking Betelgeuse but what’s the worst that could happen?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may be short but I decided to release another chapter because I felt like it.


	6. Forgiving

“What really happened whilst I was at school, guys?” asked Lydia, standing in front of all the adults in her life with her arms crossed. Betelgeuse just stood off to the side with a solemn look on his face and purplish blue hair. It was rather rare for her to be the one who was angry, especially towards her family. It was usually one or more of them who was angry at her for doing something she shouldn’t.

Lydia looked down and shuddered then focused her attention back on her family. She still remembered the last time she had gotten in trouble. She was having a sleepover with a couple goth friends of hers that she’d met when Charles and Delia took her to tour the high school she had started at today (being a junior had it’s perks and she was lucky that she and her two new friends had all their classes together). She had dared one of her friends, Cat, to do something ultimately dangerous and her parents had gotten so mad, Cat was grounded for two weeks and not allowed to see Lydia or their other friend, Trista Luna. Charles and Delia were mad as well and, on the car ride home, kept going on that Adam and Barbara were equally as mad when Charles got the phone call and told them and Delia what had happened. 

“It’s.... hard to explain,” Barbara quietly explained. “Basically, not too long into your school day, Betelgeuse decided to show up and kept asking us for forgiveness.”

“We kept telling him no,” added Adam. 

“Then when he told us that he spied on us for the last three months, which to him is three hours in the Netherworld, we got so infuriated with him and we kinda attacked and beat him up,” continued her father. “Though it was mostly the Maitlands,

“Then we just sat and watched tv for five hours until you got home,” finished Delia.

Lydia stared at her parents, her eyes wide. She hadn't expected her family's explanation as to what had happened at the house whilst she was at school to be that short. “So, let me get this straight," she said after a few minutes. "You guys all beat Betelgeuse up over the fact that he spied on you and then acted like nothing was up to make me believe that he wasn't around?"

Her family nodded, Barbara asking, "but you're okay with him being here?"

Lydia laughed. "Of course, duh! What would my life be like if I didn't have everyone involved in it back when we all ended up meeting each other? He's my best friend. Why wouldn't I want him here?"

Betelgeuse's eyes widened and a huge grin appeared on his face, his hair turning a shade of sunny yellow. Lydia still thought of him as her best friend? But earlier, she had said that she didn't think she could call him her best friend after everything he had done. Had the teenager changed her mind or?

His hair reverted to green as he looked to Lydia and she briefly smiled at him before turning her attention back over towards her family.

"He still caused trouble for the lot of us and nearly tried to kill your dad. Such actions are unforgivable, to say the least," pointed out Adam. 

Lydia considered this for a moment. Her ghost father had a point. Betelgeuse had done a lot of bad things but Lydia still believed he could be forgiven for his actions, given a second chance. She looked back over towards Betelgeuse with a look that told him she wanted him to go back upstairs to her bedroom for a short moment whilst she talked this over with her family. It was the only thing he could do so he teleported up to her room.

"I still think it's necessary to forgive him though," replied Lydia after she made sure that Betelgeuse wasn't spying on them like he had the last three hours. "Sure he caused a lot of harm to us but don't you believe in second chances?"

Her dad, Adam, and Barbara were speechless for a moment, not knowing what say. Lydia saw a smile creep across her stepmother's face as she walked over towards Lydia and turned as she stopped, facing the rest of the family. 

"Lydia's right," the former life coach turned member of the family spoke up, turning the attention of the rest of the adults from Lydia to her. "We should give him a second chance and forgive him. Three months ago, the universe sent Lydia a sign in the form of a shooting star and she made a wish that Betelgeuse would someday return. Now here we are. He has in fact returned. If we forgive him, wouldn't that make our lives and afterlives better?"

The rest of the adults sighed. Both Lydia and Delia were right. They really did need to forgive Betelgeuse. But it was three against two. The two living females stood and waited for the rest of the family to come to an agreement. Charles and the Maitlands talked amongst themselves with occasional glances towards Lydia and Delia and the staircase leading to the second floor of the house. To forgive Betelgeuse could mean that their lives and afterlives could potentially how they were that crazy week over a year ago. But there could also be some good that could come out of it, right. The remaining adults were stuck between whether or not they really should forgive him. 

They eventually came to an agreement and turned towards Lydia and Delia. 

"Okay," said Charles. "We'll forgive him. But if he tries anything, he's going back to the Netherworld."

A little while later, after doing her homework and having a snack of a cookie and a glass of milk summoned for her by Barbara, Lydia opened up her bedroom door and entered her room to find Betelgeuse sitting on her bed and drawing something on a sketchpad that he'd somehow found. Lydia sat down next to him and looked at what he was drawing.

"Is that a drawing of you and me scaring people away from the house like old times?" she asked. 

He looked at her startled, his hair turning lime green. Apparently, he hadn't noticed that she was there, so the suddenness of her talking came as a surprise to him. He looked at the drawing then returned his attention back to Lydia. “Yeah,” he said. “But is there another reason why you came up here, Lydia?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded in response. “Adam, Barbara, Delia, and my dad all agreed to forgive you and let you stay here as long as you don’t try anything, otherwise you’ll have to go back to the Netherworld. They’d also like you downstairs to go over some house rules we came up with not too long ago.”

Slowly, Betelgeuse nodded and followed Lydia back downstairs.


	7. Rules, Schmules!

"Why do we have to go through this again?!" complained Betelgeuse. Great, he was bored and they'd gone over the house rules with him fifteen times. He wasn't even listening, to be fair, and that was driving the rest of the family insane. Not one of them wanted to know how many times it was going to take until he actually listened and understood all the rules they had been telling him about for the past two hours and they didn't need to know.

"Because you need to follow these house rules if you're going to stay here," calmly replied Barbara? "Otherwise you're going to have to go back to the Netherworld. Understood?" 

Again, Betelgeuse decided not to listen. “Rules, schmules! I’d rather do something other than listening to you guys go over these stupid things.”

“Do you want to stay here or not?” deadpanned Barbara, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms. She scowled up at Betelgeuse from where she and the rest of the family were sitting on the couch and none of them looked to be too pleased. 

“Yeah....” he admitted. “I have nowhere else to go. Turned out the Netherworld was thrown into chaos after I got rid of my mom and they threatened me with the same fate as her if I didn’t leave that soon. I’m lucky Lydia made that wish. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known it was safest to come straight back here. Of course, I knew how you all were going to react to me showing up again and I prepared myself for the worst.” 

“Oh, you poor thing,” said Barbara as she and Adam teleported up to him and wrapped their arms around him in the first hug he’d been a part of since he bid farewell to them the week they’d all first met. “If you’d told us from the beginning, we wouldn’t have attacked you. Come here.” 

She pulled him down to a chair opposite the couch and sat him down in it before she and Adam went and sat back down on the couch with the Deetzes. Barbara summoned a blanket and wrapped it around Betelgeuse.

He was happier. They were more caring towards him than his mother ever was and he was thankful for that. He snuggled into the blanket then levitated it above his head and letting it drop onto him. Everyone else laughed (they loved that joke. Lydia was the one who often pulled that joke and it never failed to amuse her family. It was one of their favorite games to play together). 

“Hey! I know that joke! I’m gonna do it again!” announced Lydia as she stood up and walked over to where Betelgeuse was sitting. She pulled the blanket off of him. He pulled a funny face at her and she did the same before turning to her family and throwing the blanket over her head. 

Almost instantaneously, her family burst into laughter and Lydia smiled from underneath the blanket before taking it off and throwing it back in Betelgeuse’s direction. He pretended to grab it and it nearly landed in the fireplace and caught on fire (luckily it missed but it was still singed a little around the edges. Barbara used her powers to levitate the blanket into the air then snapped her fingers and the singed side of the blanket reverted to normal. She levitated the blanket back down onto Betelgeuse and he pretended to snuggle into it again before he rolled it into a ball and used his powers to levitate and chuck it back at Lydia. 

“Lydia, that joke is never going to get old but please try to be more careful when you throw a blanket next time,” said Barbara as she wiped a false tear from her eye. 

Lydia, who was participating in an intense game of “throw the blanket back and forth” with Betelgeuse, turned to look at Barbara. “I’d like to see you and Adam pull the same joke on me sometime soon. Maybe even with Betelgeuse. It’s gonna be even funnier if the three of you do it together.”

“Well, we could but don’t you think it would be even funnier if the four of did it to your dad and Delia?” asked Barbara, bursting into laughter.

“Well.... we could do that.” Lydia, Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse looked over towards both Charles and Delia with playful smirks on their faces and the two living adults looked at each other nervously before leaving the room. 

“We’ll go over the house rules with Betelgeuse some other time!” called out Delia. 

That left Lydia and all three deceased people alone in the living room and they glanced at one another knowingly. They knew now was the time to pull the prank together on Charles and Delia and they were hopefully going to make the two living adults laugh as loud as they could.

Hopefully.


	8. Scaring Plans

"So, how should we go about it?" asked Barbara with a simple snicker as the four of them sat together in the living room and discussed their plans to prank and mess with Lydia's dad and Delia. Both living adults had gone to the store to get food and wouldn't be back for at least a while, having told Lydia, the Maitlands, and Betelgeuse not to do anything stupid as they saw them all in the living room, staring at the both of them with unusual looks in their eyes and snickering hilariously and like nothing was going on. But they didn't know what was going to happen once they got back, did they?

"I'm not sure," her husband replied with a shrug. "But they said we couldn't do any sort of funny business. This isn't funny business! This is serious, pranking business!"

At that Barbara chuckled a little.

"Did I ever tell you you could make your faces look super scary? Because that will frighten Chuck and Debra a lot," said Betelgeuse with a wink. The Maitlands looked at him with both serious and annoyed expressions. 

"No. We didn't know that," said Adam, raising an eyebrow.

"And we are not doing that," added Barbara with a groan.

Adam finished, "but you could teach us some other time. I'm sure seeing those faces would frighten even Lydia." He turned to the aforementioned teenager. "Right?"

"Nah. I'm totally cool with it. You guys couldn't even scare me with those faces, if you ever do them, even if you tried. Not even Betelgeuse can. Said he was going to at around midnight tonight but I brushed it off and said that it wouldn't be possible." Lydia leaned back and relaxed, closing her eyes.

"I still could though," smirked Betelgeuse. He made his face as scary as he could and stood up, creeping over towards Lydia. He stopped right next to where she was relaxing and spoke his loudest, "boo!" 

Lydia opened one eye then closed it again, relaxing a bit more into the couch cushions that were propped up behind her. Barbara and Adam scooted up beside her and she snickered a little as she repositioned herself, rested her head against Barbara's chest area, and draped her legs across Adam's lap. Her arms were wrapped around Barbara's waist area and smiled softly and sweetly as she began to snore.

"You're not going to sleep, are you honey? We're in the middle of discussing how we're going to play a prank on your dad and Delia," Barbara said as Adam moved Lydia's legs off of his lap with his powers. Lydia woke up and yawned, but still kept her head resting against Barbara's chest and her arms wrapped around Barbara's waist. 

"No." Lydia yawned again. "What makes you say that? I was just relaxing. That's all."

"I'm guessing you didn't get enough sleep last night, sweetie?” asked Barbara, looking a little concerned as she ran a hand through Lydia’s hair. 

“No. It’s not that. I got plenty of sleep last night. The full eight hours.” 

“Lydia, last night you came upstairs to the attic at two in the morning because you didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in your own bed and you wanted us to stargaze with you. It’s not that we didn’t want to, we’ll go out onto the roof one evening in the coming days and stargaze together, I promise. Then when we tried to convince you to go back to bed, you insisted on sleeping in the attic. You fell asleep on the couch and we had to carry you back downstairs to your room and put you safely in your bed,” said Adam, resting one of his hands against his forehead.

“That explains why I noticed I was back in my room and in my bed when I woke up again an hour later this morning,” said Lydia out of realization. 

“Can we just go back to discussing how to prank Charles and Delia or are we not going to do that now?” asked Barbara, now deciding to change the subject back to what it was they were talking about at first. 

“Yes, we’re still doing that,” Adam replied. “At this point, I’m actually considering Betelgeuse’s scary faces idea. If it doesn’t frighten Lydia one bit as we have seen, then it’s bound to scare them to pieces. They won’t even be expecting it.”

“But they could also decide not to trust the two of us with caring for Lydia when they’re out on the weekends,” pointed out Barbara. “And I love doing that. I’d hate if they suddenly stopped trusting us.” 

“Fair point.” Adam rubbed the back of his head and glanced over at Barbara, who was again running a hand through a now napping Lydia’s hair. “But they know us well enough to keep on trusting us even if we do scare them. Remember the last time we scared them? That didn’t stop them from trusting us. Lydia’s a good kid and I love caring for her as well. Even I fear that it may happen.”

The last time they tried to scare Charles and Delia, they had thrown bed sheets over their heads and pretended to be ghosts in the many horror movies that Lydia seemed to like and showed them on occasion (it wasn’t that they didn’t mind her showing them those movies whenever, they loved spending time with her and they knew it made her happy whenever they wanted to sit down with her and watch some recent horror movie that Lydia seemed to have just discovered or one of those corny, cheesy old horror movies with the bad effects that came out decades ago. 

They looked down and smiled as they began to hear Lydia start to talk in her sleep. And it sounded adorable even though they knew she was talking about paranormal stuff. Right now, it seemed that she was talking about them in her sleep. She was saying countless things like, “Adam, can you show me that trick again? It looked so cool and amazing when you did it.” and “Barbara, can you do the same thing? I want to know if all ghosts can do that.” She also seemed to be talking about herself as she was sleeping, as she occasionally said things like “Do it again, Lydia.” 

Smiling down at Lydia and then looking over at each other with matching expressions on their faces, Maitlands debated waking Lydia at a time like this. The teenager looked so peaceful when asleep, they didn’t want to disturb her. They knew a nap was what the teenager needed right now and they were going to let her have it. 

“Scary faces or naw?” asked Betelgeuse from above the Maitlands, interrupting things and nearly causing Lydia to awake from her nap (luckily she just stirred and fell right back to sleep). Both ghosts looked up towards the ceiling to find Betelgeuse in a relaxed position with his hands resting behind his head and his eyes closed (well, one of his eyes were closed). 

“Affirmative on the scary faces,” both ghosts said at once, elbowing each other and laughing in unison. 

“Can you show us that scary face you tried to scare Lydia with?” asked Adam, both him and Barbara equally curious. 

“Sure thing, Sexy!”


	9. Scary Faces? Not Enough

When Charles and Delia returned home from the grocery store with food, they had intended on starting dinner for them and Lydia, they didn't intend for the Maitlands to scare them once they went upstairs to ask Lydia what she wanted for dinner (the teen had woken up from her nap and gone upstairs to do some homework, leaving Betelgeuse enough time to teach the Maitlands how to make the scariest faces possible to prank the living couple).

There the Maitlands stood, right in front of Lydia's closed bedroom door, their hands raised and outstretched in front of them to appear as scary as possible. They hoped and knew that this would work as they had worked so hard on these particular faces with Betelgeuse’s instructions. Betelgeuse lounged on Charles and Delia’s bed and took a drag of one of Delia’s unused vape pens (the living couple would be in for the fright of their lives when they entered their room to find the demon there). The first thing the Deetzes saw as they approached Lydia’s room were the Maitlands and they stopped and stared at them for a few minutes before bursting into bouts of laughter. The Maitlands glanced at each other then returned their faces to normal as they turned their attention back over towards the Deetz couple. 

“I thought for sure you guys would find that scary,” admitted Barbara, stifling a laugh. “It was our best prank yet.”

“Well, if it was a prank, then we didn’t find it all that scary,” replied Delia, she and Charles walking over towards the Maitlands. Both living adults felt the familiar sensation of coldness as they passed through the Maitlands (or was it the other way around?) The Deetz couple turned to the Maitlands in apology and the four of them smiled at each other before entering Lydia’s room.

It turned out Lydia wanted pasta for dinner, which her dad and Delia were both fine with as they figured something simple would be easier than the harder things Delia often made for dinner with Barbara’s help. 

Both women stood in the kitchen, talking and laughing, whilst Delia poured the pasta into the appropriate pans (egg noodles for her and regular pasta for Charles and Lydia). Once that was all done, Barbara used her powers to make the pasta cook itself on the stovetop whilst she and Delia went to set the table. 

“I can’t believe you and Adam tried to scare us with those faces. Was it Betelgeuse’s idea or Lydia’s?” asked Delia as she set the last of the silverware onto the table. Barbara, who was making the drinks and getting out the plates, turned to her with a smile. 

“Betelgeuse’s,” she replied as she placed three glasses of water and two glasses of wine onto the table then used her powers to stir the pasta. 

“I see,” commented Delia. “This is far from the usual prank that you guys play on us. You seemed nervous, as I could sense. Did you fear something was going to happen?”

“Yeah, Ad and I kinda feared you were no longer going to trust us to care for Lydia if all of it backfired,,which it seems it did.”

“What makes you guys think we’re ever going to stop trusting you with caring for her on the weekends?” asked Charles as he entered the kitchen with Adam following closely behind him. 

Barbara turned the stove off with a snap of her fingers. “We just thought you guys were going to be annoyed by the amount of jokes we played on you guys and were going to stay home on the weekends and-.”

“Nonsense.” Charles put a hand on Barbara’s shoulder, wincing a little at the cold touch but then regaining composure. “Lydia’s a good kid and she loves you guys just as much as you guys love her. We can’t imagine a life without you guys here, it’s certainly made us all a bit happier since everything that’s happened. Delia and I will be going away for a week soon anyway, so we would like you guys to care for Lydia. If you don’t mind that is.”

Adam and Barbara, ecstatic, turned to each other and smiled then turned back to Charles and nodded. 

Putting the appropriate pasta on the respective plates, Barbara levitated them over to the table and set them down on the appropriate p,ace settings as Adam called Lydia down for dinner (she seemed to like it better if the adults of her family took turns calling her down for dinner and tonight it was Adam’s turn. Yesterday, it was Delia’s and tomorrow, it was going to be Barbara’s). Lydia bounded down the steps and tapped Adam on the head as she leapt off the last of the steps. Heading into the kitchen, she shouted for Adam to chase her, to which he agreed just for fun. 

Lydia sat at her appropriate place at the table right in between her dad and Delia and across from the Maitlands: the usual settings. She turned her head towards her dad and noticed he was glancing towards her. Looking towards Delia, she noticed the same thing.

“What’s going on?” asked the teenager, looking back towards her dad. “Did something come up?”

“Yes actually,” said Charles after clearing his throat. “Lydia, your grandmother, my mother, has fallen ill, and Delia and I were asked to come up and take care of her for a week. Maybe even longer if her conditions worsen. The Maitlands will care for you whilst we’re gone up to New York. Okay?” 

“I’m fine with that,” replied Lydia, taking another bite of her pasta. “When are you guys going?” 

“A week from today,” was Charles’ reply. Lydia nodded in response.

“What’d she come down with?” asked Barbara, curious.

“Her doctor didn’t disclose that to Delia and I. All he said was that it was super rare and super unusual for someone that old to have it.”

“Well, I hope she gets better,” said Barbara. “The last thing we all would want is you guys having to deal with another death in the family. With how badly Lydia took Emily’s death, one can imagine how badly you would take your mother’s death, Char.”

“Yeah.” Charles nodded sadly, looking down. “I was pretty close with my mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourselves for some sweet Beetlelands moments and cuddles next chapter!!! 😉


	10. Cuddle Bug

Betelgeuse had finished off the last of the vape pens that he had found and threw it into the small pile of other vape pens before leaning back on the master bed again. Those vape pens were calling to him and he hoped that whoever they might’ve belonged to wouldn’t mind him using them. He hadn’t intended on using them all but he had seen them just sitting there on a dresser drawer and only meant to use just one then leave before he was caught. What had actually happened was different.

He tried to hide somewhere else but he was running out of time. The familiar voices of the Deetzes were heard down the hall, Charles and Delia telling Lydia goodnight then heard their footsteps come in the direction of the room he was in as Lydia’s footsteps were heard in the distance clambering up the attic stairs. 

He heard the door to the room open (since when had he closed it?) and a soft gasp from Delia as she stared at him, down at the vape pens, then back at him, an annoyed look appearing on her face as she walked over towards the bed and sat down on it next to Betelgeuse.

“Beej, did you use all those vape pens?” she asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

A nod.

Delia groaned. “Betelgeuse, those were my vape pens that I use only when I have a panic attack or if I feel the need. You can’t just touch peoples’ private things they leave around the house. They weren’t yours.”

“Look, Debra-.”

“Delia,” she corrected him.

“Look, Delilah, I saw them and felt the need to use one. Just... one. I didn’t mean to use the whole bunch of them, I swear.”

Delia looked at Charles, who had a similar look to her on his face, then back up towards Betelgeuse, who was now floating in midair and looking apologetically, with his hair now a shade of blue, down at her.

“Out!” demanded Charles, pointing towards the door.

Betelgeuse didn’t budge, so he tried again. When the demon didn’t exit the room that time around, instead just teleporting onto the floor and staring sheepishly at the Deetzes, Delia resorted to pushing him out the room. Charles appeared next to her in the doorway and scowled at the demon.

“Betelgeuse, I would appreciate it if you never came into this room again,” he said, a serious tone in his voice.

All Betelgeuse did was teleport away, the Deetz couple going back into their room and closing the door.

Betelgeuse grumbled. Why did the Deetz couple have to kick him out of their room? Not even he himself was sure. He teleported up to the attic at around eleven that same night, startling and scaring the Maitlands as they talked about things the demon knew he shouldn't have heard. But he still knew this conversation was about him based on how hushed they'd become when they looked over and noticed him just floating there and staring nervously at them. That prompted the two ghosts to stop their conversation and Betelgeuse floated over towards them, sitting himself down on the couch in between Adam and Barbara and resting his arms around their shoulders.

"Sexy, Babs? You talkin' 'bout me?" he asked, winking then raising an eyebrow.

"Yes actually," replied Adam, peering around Betelgeuse to glance at Barbara then returning his attention to the demon. "I don't know if you knew this, but your presence in this house has certainly made the place a bit more livelier. You may have done some bad things the first week we met but you haven't done any bad things since you showed up at the house earlier today and I have to say, we're all surprised. You've changed quite a lot since the first time we met."

"So, what brings you to the attic, bud?" asked Adam, offering Betelgeuse a smile.

"Chuck and Debra kicked me out of their room after they entered to find me laying on their bed and using all those unused vape pens. Debra was exceptionally mad at me because now she has to get new vape pens," explained Betelgeuse, looking down towards the ground. Inside, the demon was all like, "he called me bud". On the outside, it was more evident that he was hiding the fact he was blushing from the Maitlands despite his hair turning a shade of pink, which the Maitlands just happened to notice.

"Why'd you decide to use Delia's vape pens without her knowing?" asked Barbara, a tad bit curious but confused. "I'm pretty sure there's a reason she left them lying about."

“I just saw them sitting there unused and untouched. Thought I’d use one then I ended up using the whole lot of them. I didn’t hear the end of it when Delilah started ranting about it. It felt like it lasted for two hours then they kicked me out, said I wasn’t allowed any near or in their room again after what happened,” lamented Betelgeuse out of sadness, looking down towards the attic floor. 

“Oh... you poor thing,” said Barbara. She and Adam both reached over and wrapped their arms around the saddened demon. Betelgeuse’s hair went from blue to pink again as he relaxed in the Maitlands’ hold. Since when did his hair turn blue? “We’ll talk with Delia in the morning. See why she left all those vape pens out. ‘Kay?”

Betelgeuse’s response was, “Kay.”

“Do you want to spend some time with us? We could stay up all night long and talk. We’re dead, it’s not like we need any sleep anyway,” suggested Adam. 

Betelgeuse glanced at Adam, looking a little nervous, then looked back down towards the attic floor. “That sounds... okay, I guess.” 

The Maitlands could tell that he was uncertain, glancing at one another then moving to curl up against the demon and making him confused. Eventually, he became used to having the Maitlands curled up against him. It made him feel calmer, it was a feeling he knew he had never experienced before, as his hair turned a pastel yellow and pink as he relaxed again and rested his arms around the Maitlands as they fell asleep. 

Not even he intended to drift off as well.


	11. Early Morning Talks

The Maitlands were awoken at around two in the morning by the sounds of Lydia slamming the attic door open then closed and her whimpers as she sat herself down on the floor and curled up into a ball with her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. Her crying became more and more consistent as the minutes dragged on. Adam and Barbara gently and carefully removed a still sleeping Betelgeuse's arms from around their shoulders and got up from the couch to make sure the teenager was doing okay. This was the second night in a row where she had decided to come upstairs to the attic at two in the morning and the Maitlands were now certain this was going to be a common occurrence.

As the teenager yawned and nearly stumbled on her feet, Adam was quick enough help her onto a couch as Barbara summoned a blanket and a fresh cup of tea for the teenager. Lydia turned and smiled up at her as the blanket was draped around her and the cup of tea was levitated gently and carefully into her hands. It was as if the Maitlands knew why she was up here at a time like this, and then she remembered the events of the previous night.

"Uncomfortable in your own bed again, sweetheart?" asked Barbara sweetly. 

"No," the teenager replied softly, leaning her head against Barbara's chest area. Barbara ran a hand through Lydia's hair, her other hand wrapped around the girl's waist and holding her close to her. "I had a nightmare." 

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry to hear that. It wasn't the one where Adam and I were gone and your dad and Delia were dead again, was it?" asked Barbara, feeling sorry for the teenage girl. A silent nod from Lydia as she relaxed a little more in Barbara's hold. 

"Want to sleep up here for the rest of the night?" asked Barbara, smiling. 

"Yeah, sure. As long as Adam's okay with it," the teen said, looking over in Adam's direction and 

"Lydia, I know that you have school in a few hours from now but you can't sleep up here every night," calmly explained Adam. "We'll allow you to sleep up here tonight as an exception." 

"What if I have another nightmare tomorrow night?" the teenager asked quietly. 

"Okay, the exception is if you happen to have a nightmare," said Adam. 

Barbara levitated the blanket into the air as Lydia maneuvered herself into a laying position on the couch, her head in Barbara's lap and her legs draped across Adam's. Barbara smiled softly at the teenager as she levitated the blanket back down onto her. She just looked so peaceful, snoring away. Her snores sounded like a newborn kitten mewing and that in itself was adorable.

Barbara ran a hand through Lydia's short black hair as her gaze flicked to Adam. "What if Charles and Delia enter her room and she's not there? Wouldn't that get them both equally as worried she might've gone missing?"

"I don't know... maybe? We should let them know she's up here in the attic with us," replied Adam.

"But we best wait until morning time," said Barbara, earning a nod from Adam.

"Adam, yes, that was an amazing trick. Do it again," Lydia mumbled quietly in her sleep as she rolled over onto her side. Barbara and Adam couldn't help but giggle a little bit about this. "Barb, you make the best cookies. It was delicious. Delia makes the best cakes, you know that." 

"Guys," said Betelgeuse softly, directing the attention of both ghosts onto him. He was about to speak again when the Maitlands put their fingers up to their lips and gestured towards the sleeping teenager. Betelgeuse nodded in response and teleported somewhere else (the Maitlands didn’t know where). 

“You’re right,” Adam said, continuing on from where they had left off on their conversation on the Deetzes. “But remember, next week, they’re entrusting us with caring for Lydia. It’s a lot different from caring for her every weekend. It’s a whole week this time. When have we ever cared for her for a whole week?”

“When Delia took Charles up to meet some of her friends and relatives that she’d promised to do for a while? One of her aunts allowed them to stay over for a week,” replied Barbara with a sigh, taking her husband’s hands in her own and looked him in the eyes. “It’ll be fine. We’ve helped Charles and Delia out a lot by caring for Lydia so much, next week will fly by in a flash. You know that.”

“I do,” he admitted after a few minutes. “But Charles said his mother just fell ill and they were heading back up to New York next week. What if it’s serious. What if she passes on and goes to the Netherworld before they even get there?”

“That could be a problem then,” Barbara had to agree. “But whatever happens, we’ll still be caring for Lydia for a week.” 

Heavy footsteps, as well as lighter ones, sounded up the attic stairs and the Maitlands both glanced up at the clock situated on the wall above the attic door, noting that it now read 3:00 in the morning. 

The two ghosts looked at each other and stood up together, heading over towards the attic door. Barbara opened it with her powers to reveal a frantic Charles and Delia standing together on the other side.

“What’s up, guys-.”

“Tell Lydia that we’ve headed up to New York when you get her up for school,” urgently said Charles as he gripped Adam’s shoulders and shook him a little. Adam removed Charles’ hands from his shoulders as he and Barbara stared at the Deetzes with equal looks of shock and surprise on their faces. “They need Delia and I at the hospital my mom’s at as soon as possible.”


	12. Second Day News

"Lydia, it's time to get up for school," said Barbara around three hours later. 

"Already..." mumbled the teen, slowly starting to wake up.

The teenager shifted in her spot on the couch in the attic and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She stood up and hurried back down to the second floor of the house to get herself ready for school that day whilst the Maitlands teleported downstairs to the kitchen. Barbara started a nice breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast for Lydia because the teen had kept mumbling that she wanted it for the last half hour whilst Adam used his powers to sort Lydia's lunch and backpack for the day, putting things in the appropriate folders, zipping it up, and setting it over by the door to the garage. 

Barbara set Lydia's breakfast down on the counter in front of Lydia's usual spot and she and Adam sat across from it. Lydia's footsteps sounded from the upstairs hallway and down the stairs. She entered the kitchen in not her school uniform, but her usual everyday black dress and combat boots. She sat down at the counter and started to eat as Barbara confusedly looked over at her. 

"Uh, Lydia, why are you wearing your everyday clothes on a school day instead of your uniform?" she asked. Lydia stopped mid bite and put her fork down.

"I... thought it was the weekend?" she clearly lied. 

Barbara rolled her eyes playfully and snapped her fingers to change Lydia's clothes from what she was wearing to her school uniform. Lydia looked down at it and gave Barbara a playful pout when she refocused her attention onto her. 

"Gee... thanks, Barbara..." she teased. Barbara didn't catch that she was teasing her. "Where are my dad and Delia? They're usually down here by now." 

"Oh. About that, they came up to the attic around three this morning to tell us that they were needed at the hospital your grandmother's at as soon as possible." 

"I thought they were supposed to go next week?" Lydia sounded confused. 

"Apparently the dates were mixed up," replied Adam. "They were accidentally told to come next week instead of this morning and were only told right as you came upstairs to the attic to sleep." 

"Did they say when they'd be back?" asked Lydia. 

"When and if your grandmother is well," replied Barbara. Lydia nodded.

She smiled at Lydia as the teenager finished up her breakfast and carried her plate and her cup over to the sink, putting them in. She picked up her backpack and headed out the door to go to school. As the sounds of her starting up the Maitlands' old car were heard, Barbara stood over by the sink and began washing abc cleaning Lydia's plate with her powers. 

"I wonder how a certain demon's going to react that Lydia leaves this early in the morning to go to school."

"I don't know. We'll have to tell him soon and I know he's gonna want to pull a prank of some kind with her this afternoon. I could hear him mumbling about it as he teleported back into the attic," replied Adam.

Speak of the devil....

Betelgeuse teleported into the kitchen and looked in the Maitlands' direction. "Where's Lydia at a time like this? I was going to need her help with something."

"She went to school like yesterday," replied Barbara, not looking up at Betelgeuse.

"Again? Let me guess, she's going tomorrow as well?" 

"Yes. And the rest of the week," said Barbara. 

"All week?" asked Betelgeuse, teleporting up onto the counter. 

"You'll be able to do whatever it is you need her help with at any point in the weekend. As long as it's not too dangerous."

"Dangerous? Nah. It was just going to be a small, harmless prank," said Betelgeuse with a playful smirk. "Anyway, it's already after two in the afternoon. When does Lydia get back from this... school?" 

"I forgot time moved fast for us now. Just ten minutes ago, it was breakfast and she headed on her way to school," said Barbara with a laugh as she glanced from Adam to Betelgeuse and back. The sounds of Lydia pulling their car into the garage and the garage door closing were heard and Betelgeuse teleported straight up to Lydia's bedroom in an attempt to scare her.

Lydia entered the house with a sheepish look on her face and Adam used his powers to levitate her backpack off of her and onto the counter. She sat down and looked at Barbara with a worried expression.

"What's wrong, Lydia, sweetheart?" she asked. 

"My friends want to meet you guys by the end of the week but they don't know you're dead and I don't know if they can see you. So, I've run into a few problems and don't know if I can invite them?"

"Lydia, they're your friends for a reason. You befriended them because they were goth like you. Of course they'd be able to see us. Invite them over and we'll find out by the end of the week," said Barbara, floating around the counter and wrapping her arms around Lydia in a hug. "We'd love to meet your friends too and I'm sure we'd make a good first impression to them, right Adam?"

Adam nodded and Lydia sighed.

"You told them about Betelgeuse?"

"Yeah. They think having a demon as a friend is pretty cool and that's basically the reason why they wanted to meet you. And him. I'm going to go upstairs, text them that it's okay for them to come over and meet you guys and get a start on my homework." She grabbed her backpack and headed up the stairs, calling over her shoulder, "Let me know when dinner's ready!"

The Maitlands nodded. The rest of the week was going to go by in a flash and it felt like tomorrow was going to be the day they met Lydia's friends from school.

A scream, followed by a bout of laughter, was heard from upstairs and the Maitlands looked at each other and giggled.


	13. Friends

When Cat and Trista Luna came over to the Maitland-Deetz house after school at the end of the week, they immediately got along with the Maitlands. As it turned out, their mothers were close childhood friends with Barbara and were equally as sad when they’d heard that she and Adam had died. They had to be persuaded to attend the funeral by their husbands, Cat, and Trista Luna. To this day, they’re still not over it.

Betelgeuse had been asked to stay in Lydia’s room until Lydia brought her friends up to meet him (him being the reason why they wanted to come over in the first place. Lydia thought it would be necessary for them to see the Maitlands first after Cat and Trista told her that their mothers knew them. But one problem remained, would their mothers believe them if they told them they got to see the Maitlands? Probably not). 

Lydia, Cat, and Trista sat together at the kitchen counter and worked a little bit on their homework, helping each other out with it (with some inputs from Adam) whilst Barbara made three steaming hot cups of tea for them. Once they were done, Barbara levitated the three cups over to the girls (making sure to set down Lydia’s favorite ghost patterned tea cup in front of her before turning her attention to Cat and Trista Luna and asking them which cup they wanted).

“Can I have that one?” asked Cat, pointing to the black cat themed cup. Barbara smiled and set it down in front of her before setting the last remaining cup of tea down in front of Trista Luna. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Maitland,” both girls said at once. Barbara mouthed, “you’re welcome”, and sat across from them. 

“I can see why Lydia loves you and Adam so much and why our mothers were close with you as children,” added Cat, taking a sip of her tea and glancing up at Barbara. “They’re still upset about your deaths.”

“Tell them we said hi,” said Barbara.

“I doubt they would believe us,” replied Trista Luna. “After all, they’re not into everything strange and unusual like Cat, Lydia, Lydia’s dad, Delia, and I are.”

“Right. Well, take these pictures and give them to them,” said Barbara, handing both girls each a picture. They took them and looked them over before looking back up at Barbara in confusion.

“Are these photoshopped? They look photoshopped,” said Cat. 

“They’re not,” said Lydia, finishing up her tea and looking from Cat to Trista Luna and back to Cat. Barbara levitated all three empty tea cups and set them down gently and carefully in the sink to be washed later. “I took them a few weeks ago and both of these pictures are very special.”

“How special?” asked Cat, she and Trista Luna both looking confusedly at Lydia. 

“Well, these were the first ever pictures I took where I managed to figure out how to make the Maitlands show up whilst processing them,” replied Lydia with a smile.

“Oooooohhhh,” said both girls at once, tones of surprise in their voices.

“Didn’t you say you had another friend that you wanted to introduce us to?” asked Trista Luna as she and Cat put the photos neatly away in their folders. “A lonely demon from the Netherworld named Betelgeuse, right?” 

Lydia laughed. Leave it to Trista Luna to mispronounce Betelgeuse’s name. “It’s pronounced ‘Beetlejuice’ even though it’s spelled the same way as the name of the star.” 

“Oh, right. I forgot.” 

Trista Luna laughed as well, brushing some of her raven black hair out of her eyes. Her bangs were side-swept, falling in front of her right eye and stopping at the very tip of her chin. Her eyes were brown but both Lydia and Cat often swore that they saw them change color in the light, occasionally joking with her that she’s some sort of supernatural creature for fun, though Trista Luna doesn’t seem to by it. She still thinks it’s funny, though, whenever they do it.

“Hey, you’re being a supernatural creature again,” joked Cat, looking deep in Trista Luna’s eyes as if she was some sort of psychic medium, which, despite there being no degree for it in college, she wanted to be when she was older and graduated from college. Lydia wanted to be a paranormal investigator with a tv show centered on her talking to ghosts and making sure they weren’t as lonely and Trista Luna was still a little undecided on what she wanted to do in the future. Maybe a mortician? She wasn’t quite sure yet. 

“Cut it out, Caterina,” said Trista Luna, deciding to use Cat’s full first name for a change. Cat stuck her tongue out at her and Barbara stepped in before anything else could happen. Lydia was over with Adam, talking about something. Probably how she was going to introduce the two of them to Betelgeuse without any problems. 

“Woah, woah, Cat, Tris, enough with this,” Barbara said as calmly as possible. Both girls stopped what they were doing and looked at the female ghost.

“Sorry, Mrs. Maitland,” both girls said at once. Barbara laughed.

“Oh, you don’t need to call me that. You can just call me Barb.”

“Are you sure? Because wouldn’t that be a little strange? To be calling an adult by their first name?” questioned Caterina. 

“Well, you seem to call Lydia’s stepmother by her first name like she does. It’s okay,” replied Barbara.

Feeling okay with this, both girls nodded and turned their attention over towards Lydia and Adam. 

Just how crazy would meeting an actual real life demon for the first time be?


	14. Have You Ever Met a Demon?

Lydia led her two friends upstairs as soon as the slightest sound of a crash was heard emanating from her bedroom. Knowing Betelgeuse probably ended up in the exact same predicament as the beginning of the week when she first noticed he was back, Lydia had the slightest hint of a smirk-like smile on her face as she, Trista Luna, and Caterina climbed up the last of the stairs and Lydia pushed open the door to her bedroom.

Barbara had told them she'd tell them when dinner was ready after Caterina and Trista Luna texted their parents to let them know they'd be staying at Lydia's until at least eight that same evening and both sets of parents were completely fine with it all, just as long as they thanked Lydia's parents when they came to pick Trista Luna and Cat up. All three girls were equally as nervous, why didn't they think to text them that Lydia had said Charles and Delia were out of town for a while.

Not too long ago, Lydia had gotten a text from Delia that said they wouldn't be back until the end of the following week, which Lydia was fine with. She wanted to spend as much time with Adam and Barbara as possible, get to know them a little bit better. It was the same with Betelgeuse, who she barely got to really know. That was now what she would have to do tomorrow: get to know her best demon friend.

She heard her friends giggling playfully and looked up to find them floating around the hallway. Looking into her bedroom, she found that Betelgeuse had reverted it back to what it had looked like that very morning before Lydia had gone to school (except that Lydia's bed was made and her clothes had been neatly folded and moved off to one corner of her bedroom. When had that happened? She would have to ask Barbara later if she had anything to do with it). 

Another smirk crossed her face and she rolled her eyes before returning her attention to Betelgeuse, who was sitting up and preparing to do the same to her. "Beej? What are you doing?"

"Having fun making your living friends float around," was his response. "You want a turn?" 

Before Lydia had a chance to respond, Betelgeuse was already at it. He snapped his fingers again and made Lydia levitate into the and float around in weird directions much like her friends were doing. She turned her attention over towards Catalina and Trista Luna and noticed the huge smiles on their faces. Smiles that screamed 'he is so cool! Why didn't our lives provide us with demon best friends as awesome as this guy is?'

"You guys are actually having fun with this?" Lydia asked, concerned. 

"Uh yeah," Caterina replied as she spun in midair. "Aren't you having fun, Lyd? He is your best deceased friend, is he not?"

"He was once, and I don't know if he still is," was all Lydia said, giving Betelgeuse a 'put us down please' look. 

He rolled his eyes, levitated the three of them down to the floor, and pouted playfully at Lydia. "Awwww.... c'mon Scarecrow. Can't ya just admit that floating around was fun? At least your friends liked it. Also, I thought you said we still were friends."

"Beej, shhh. I haven't told them the whole story yet. I kept on meaning to but I kept putting it off," replied Lydia. He pouted a bit more. 

"What's this about a story, Lyddie?" asked Trista Luna. "And your deceased demon friend is super cool. What happened that made you decide he wasn't your friend to begin with? Does it have to do with the story?"

"Look," said Lydia, turning to look at her friends. "I'll tell you the story over dinner. With some inputs from Adam and Barbara and probably Betelgeuse. Actually, I'm gonna need him there to tell the story as well, as he played the biggest role in what happened the week I moved here last year."

"So we can get to know Betelgeuse now?" asked Caterina. Lydia sighed, nodded, and led her friends into her room as soon as Betelgeuse had gone in himself. "After all, it's like half past four."

"Dinner's not for another hour then," said Lydia as she sat on her bed. Caterina and Trista Luna sat on the floor and Betelgeuse hovered in midair. Before any of them could speak, a gentle knock on the door directed the attention of all four of them towards it. Barbara was half phased through the bedroom door, holding Lydia's phone (which she had forgotten she had left downstairs).

"What is it, Barbara?" asked Lydia, getting up and going over towards the ghost. Barbara handed the teenager her phone. 

"Your dad tried to call you earlier and left a voicemail since you didn't pick up," explained Barbara as Lydia opened her phone to find the voicemail. "I don't think it's good news," the ghost added quietly.

Lydia played the message and, as soon as two words were heard, a sad look appeared on her face.

“Lydia, what’s wrong?” asked Barbara, feeling a little concerned. 

“My paternal grandmother... she just passed on...”


	15. Offering Comfort

“Lydia, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Barbara just as soon as Caterina and Trista Luna headed on their way home for the night (they promised Lydia she could tell them the story once she got back and that they’d update her with things they learned over the school week, as well as send her any and all homework/forms to be completed). Both ghost and living girl were now sitting together on top of Lydia’s bed, Barbara holding Lydia close with one hand and using the other to wipe away stray tears from the teen’s eyes as they kept on forming.

“These things are never easy,” said Adam, phasing through the door to Lydia’s bedroom and sitting on the other side of the teen, wrapping his arms around both females. “Who knows how much pain your dad is going through right now, surely it can’t be as bad as how you felt when your mom passed.” 

“I’m sure that he’s gone back to being the exact same as he was when he, Delia, and I first moved here!” grumbled Lydia, burying her head into Barbara’s chest area and tearing up some more. Barbara ran a hand through Lydia’s hair and ruffled it, but that did nothing to comfort the teen. In fact, Adam and Barbara were starting to worry Lydia was going back to how she was before she met them. “Sooner or later, he’s gonna act like I’m invisible all over again! And if that happens, we may all drift apart as a family and it will take months before we start feeling like a found family again.”

“Lydia, look at me,” instructed Barbara, she and Adam pulling away from Lydia. The teen did so, looking directly at Barbara’s baby blue eyes and wiping a few excess tears from her hazel brown ones. “Even if that happens, we’re not going to let it. You, your dad, and Delia are going to have to be strong about all this and Adam, Betelgeuse, and I will be there to offer comfort whenever you guys need it.”

“Thanks for that, Barb. I needed it. And I’m sure my dad will too when he, Delia, and I get home from the hospital,” said Lydia, curling up against Barbara as if she was some sort of house cat. 

“We’ll miss seeing you for the coming week but keep thinking about the two of us as much as you possibly can,” said Adam, moving so he had one arm wrapped around Barbara’s shoulder and the other around Lydia’s. “And tell your dad and Delia to do the same. The last thing we want is any of you not being able to see us again.”

At that, Lydia laughed. “Adam, Adam, Adam, you know I’m still strange and unusual enough to see you guys. Nothing’s going to change when we return. I’ll keep thinking about you two just in case though, just to make you feel better.” 

“Right,” replied Adam, he and Barbara laughing as well. 

“Now, I never thought about how I was going to meet up with my dad and Delia up in New York,” said Lydia after a few minutes, sliding off of her bed and moving to stand over by her bedroom door. The Maitlands looked at one another then turned their attention onto her as she began to pace. 

“Well, Betelgeuse is going to need to go up to New York with you because he said it was now his duty in the Netherworld to meet the recently deceased and send them on their way to the Netherworld. I think it’s better if he teleports both himself and you up to New York as I think it would be faster,” said Adam.

“Does he even know where in New York the hospital is though?” questioned Lydia out of concern. 

“I’m not sure he-.”

Betelgeuse popped back into the room as soon as Lydia finished her sentence, a tote bag slung over his shoulder. He noticed that Lydia looked nervous, probably and most likely about having to be away from the Maitlands for the next week. The Maitlands, he noted, had similar looks on their faces.

He set the tote bag down and teleported behind Adam and Barbara, laying on his side and looking up at them. Lydia had sat cross-legged on the skull shaped rug right beside her bed with her hands resting under her chin. She clearly looked sad about this all. The Maitlands looked down at Betelgeuse and the demon’s hair went from green to blue, signifying that he sensed they were sad. Was this a ghost thing?

“What’s wrong, guys?” he asked. The Maitlands looked at each other then at Lydia before turning their attention back towards Betelgeuse, who was now floating on his back in midair just above Lydia’s head.

“Nothing.... well, we’re just worried that Lydia, her dad, and Delia aren’t going to be able to see us again when you guys return,” said Barbara, sniffing a little. Adam put an arm around her shoulder to calm her down and Barbara sniffed some more before leaning her head against Adam’s. 

“Woah, woah, woah,” Betelgeuse said suddenly, disappearing in a bright flash of light before reappearing on the floor right beside where Lydia was still sitting curled up, her head in her hands. “Nothing like that’s gonna happen if you learn the right techniques to keep in touch with her and her family whilst they’re away.”

“So... you’re not going with Lydia?” Adam sounded confused.

“No, I’m still gonna need to be there.” Betelgeuse gestured to the tote bag still laying on the floor, right beside Lydia’s feet. “Seeming as how I could sense Chuck’s mom was about to die right as ol’ Chuck and Debra came up to the stairs to tell you guys where they were going.”

“You can sense when people are about to die?” Now both Maitlands were curious, looking over towards Betelgeuse with surprised looks. “Can we do that too?”

“No,” replied the demon with a slight laugh. “That’s only a ‘guide to the dead’ thing.”

“Oh...”

Betelgeuse picked up the tote bag again, tapping Lydia with an invisible hand he must’ve just made. “Now, are you fine with having to be away from the Maitlands for a week?”

Lydia made a sad, grumpy noise and curled in on herself a little more.

All three dead people sighed. This was going to have to take a little more convincing.


	16. Should I Stay or Should I Go?

"Lydia, I know you'd rather stay here with us but wouldn't you also rather attend the funeral of your grandmother with your dad and Delia up in New York?" asked Barbara, helping the teenager up and sitting her on her bed. She sat herself down next to the teenager and held her close as Adam and Betelgeuse joined the two females. Adam wrapped his arms around both Barbara and Lydia whilst Betelgeuse sat next to him, not knowing exactly what to do at a time like this. 

"I DON'T KNOW!" the teen spurted out rather loudly, tears springing from her eyes as she threw her arms up. She looked down and sighed. "You guys are all my family. It's harder to choose: between my dad and Delia and you guys. Does it help that I both want to attend my grandmother's funeral and stay here with you guys at the exact same time."

"Lyd, I know you want to do both but now is a time when you have to figure out which is easier to do: either go up to New York, your home state, and spend a week there with your family or spend the next week with us and miss out on your grandmother's funeral," said Barbara, calmness in her voice. 

"Well, attending my grandmother's funeral is going to be hard, even attending my own mother's funeral was hard, but I also don't want to have to spend a week away from you guys," said Lydia, looking from Barbara to Adam to Betelgeuse. "There has got to be a way that I can do both..."

The Maitlands opened their mouths in unison, them both wanting to say something, but Betelgeuse was quick to cut them off. "You mean like the two of them coming up to that hospital in New York as well?"

The Maitlands looked at him with confusion. "That's not what we were going to sa-."

Betelgeuse held up a hand and both ghosts fell silent. Summoning a Handbook, the demon opened it to a random page in the middle of the book and levitated it over towards Adam and Barbara. Barbara looked nervous and Adam grabbed the Handbook and began to read the page it was open to. "Ghosts may leave the Netherworld to attend funerals, be it a member of their own family's funeral or the funeral of a friend and/or a friend's family. Keep in mind that this is one of the only instances in which ghosts are allowed to leave."

"So you're saying that both can happen at once?" asked Barbara, looking curious. 

A grin appeared on Betelgeuse's face and he turned his attention onto Barbara as his hair turned a lighter shade of green. "Close. Lydia and I will meet up with her dad and Delia in New York and, on the day of the funeral, Lydia will text you and you can teleport up to meet up with the rest of us."

"Will we be able to text her back though?" asked Adam.

Annoyed, Betelgeuse snapped his fingers and made Lydia's light flicker a little. "Seriously? Did you not know about ghosts and electricity and/or technology?" 

The Maitlands shook their heads no in unison. Noticing that Lydia was now sitting over by her bedroom door and looking down at her phone, Adam and Barbara each summoned their phones and focused all their attention and their minds on turning them on mentally. It worked and both ghosts opened the message app on their phones without even touching them. Two seconds later, two pings sounded from Lydia's phone and she started to snicker as she looked up at the Maitlands.

"Did you guys seriously just text me two hundred silly face emojis in total with your minds?"

"No...." the Maitlands lied in unison.

Lydia raised an eyebrow and stood up, looking like she wanted to start a game of chase with her ghost family. The Maitlands stood up as well, it was like they knew what Lydia had in mind, and phased through Lydia's bedroom door at such a fast pace. Lydia chuckled as she opened her bedroom door and ran out after the Maitlands. Hearing their familiar giggles sound from the living room downstairs, Lydia knew exactly where to go. She jumped down the stairs leading down to the main floor of the house three at a time and landed on the wooden floor with a "SLAM". Thankfully, she wasn't injured.

She stood up again and ran the rest of the way into the living room. Looking around, she couldn’t find any sign of the Maitlands. She could’ve sworn she heard them giggling down here earlier. What was going on?

Shrugging, she spun on her heel. “Oh well, guess they won’t be coming up to New York with Beej and I.” 

Two shouts of, “YAAAAAHHH!”, sounded from behind Lydia and she spun around again with a smirk-like grin stretched across her face. The Maitlands leaping towards her with their hands outstretched and equal grins on their faces filled her vision and she began to run out of the living room and back up towards her room. But before she could, she was tackled to the ground by the two snickering ghosts.

Barbara snapped her fingers and the three of them teleported, still piled on top of one another, back into the middle of the living room. Lydia was smiling and giggling hilariously and pretending to attempt to escape out from under her ghostly guardians. Barbara was ruffling Lydia’s hair like crazy and Adam was tickling the teenager all over, just as they did all the time when they wanted to goof around with Lydia.

In fact, they were so into it that they lost track of time. At least until Betelgeuse popped into the living room.

“Is she staying here or is she going up to New York?” he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, we’re going to see what Charles and Delia are up to in New York. 
> 
> Additional warnings for some emotional moments.


	17. On the Other Side of Things

Delia couldn't stand to see her beloved break down in tears over HIS own mother's (Lydia's grandmother's) death. She had only met him and Lydia after Emily had died and therefore had not known if Lydia reacted the exact same way to her mother's death as Charles was to his. She dared not to question, at least not yet, as she knew he would just tear up even more as he tried to recompose himself.

Charles was strong. He had to get through this. Now he knew exactly how Lydia felt when she received the news of her mother's death from him. He became worried he was going to slip back into his old state and hide his sadness. He looked over at Delia and she motioned for him to sit down next to her. Once he did, she rested her arm around his shoulder and placed her other hand on his heart.

"I-," the male began but Delia simply smiled, cutting him off.

"Charles," she said, the way she said it reminding him of Emily. Memory upon memory of his first wife drifted through his head. Her wavy blonde hair, her warm, brown eyes, her warm smile. He missed it all, yet he felt like her spirit was all around him. Delia made him laugh in a way similar to how Emily used to. Perhaps that was one of the reasons why he fell in love with Delia in the first place. "Charles, how're you taking this?" Delia continued, noting that he had remained silent for a few. 

"I'm fine. It's fine..." He broke down in tears again and Delia lifted his head up so that he was looking her in the eyes. "Just... trying my best to move on. I'll still think about her but I think it's best I move on from this. It will still hurt so much and I'll miss her, but how do you think Lydia will react?"

He dreaded the answer yet a question like that made Delia fall silent.

Charles continued, "when we lost Emily to cancer, Lydia took it the hardest out of the both of us. Hid in her room for a whole two months. I would see her leave her room during that period but it was rare." 

Delia placed a hand on his shoulder and he put his own hand on top of it.

“By the way,” he continued, “have you heard from Lydia?”

Delia looked down at her phone, careful not to break a piece off of its crystal case. “Oh... oh yeah! She wants to know if the Maitlands can come along with her and Betelgeuse when they come up to New York. Says Betelgeuse is saying there’s a way the Maitlands can leave the house. Doesn’t say what it is though.” 

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he had to say, taking out his phone. “I’m gonna give her a call.” 

He dialed his daughter’s phone number and his phone rang six times before Lydia finally picked up (she liked to do that as a joke. He wasn’t sure why, but he knew she found it funny to do). 

“Hey, Lydia, sweetheart,” he said, his voice sounding serious. 

“Dad,” was her reply. “You don’t call me unless it’s something serious. Is it something serious? Is something wrong?”

He could hear her being tackled to the floor on the other end and the bout of giggles that followed indicated to him that she and the Maitlands were having way too much fun (not that he minded, that was. He and Delia were used to hearing how much fun Lydia had with the Maitlands when they were out on the weekends. 

“It’s just... do you think it’s really a good idea to let the Maitlands come up as well,” he had to say, biting his lower lip.

“Of course! Why not?”

“What if the house is sold to someone else?”

Lydia became silent for a second then spoke up again, “Barbara says we can just leave all the lights on in the house to make people believe there are others living in it. That ought to fool ‘em.”

“No, Lydia,” was her dad’s strict reply. He let out a sigh and Lydia suppressed a giggle. 

“Adam says he, Barbara, and Betelgeuse can create the haunting effect of people walking around the house to make people believe the house is still occupied.”

“Lydi-.”

“Betelgeuse says he wants to burn the house down. Is that appropriate or-?”

“LYDIA!!!” her dad furiously shouted, causing other patients and some nurses and doctors to stare at him worriedly. Lydia’s end of the line suddenly became quiet and Charles began to calm down. “Lydia... I’m sorry...” he finally said, after a few minutes of silence. 

“It’s okay, dad, all is forgiven. We’ll meet up with you soon. Betelgeuse’s got to see if the Maitlands can leave the house holding onto him first. It won’t take long. Then Betelgeuse is going to teleport the four of us up to the hospital where you and Delia are. Can you have Delia text me the address so I can tell Beej which hospital to teleport us to?” said Lydia.

“Got it! Bye, Lydia, sweetheart,” he said.

“Bye, dad,” she said.

He hung up the phone and turned to Delia, motioning for her to text Lydia the address. As she did so, Charles went over and sat back down, leaning his head against her shoulder and falling asleep - much like he used to do back when Emily was still alive.


	18. Found Family Fun

Ping!!! The text Charles had asked Delia to send to Lydia appeared on the teenager's phone and she pulled it out again. But reading it was hard. The Maitlands were piled on top of her again and they were tickling her all over whilst snickering and giggling like crazy. Lydia still did manage to scoot out a little from under the Maitlands and looked down at her phone. The text on it was the address to the New York hospital where they were supposed to meet up with Lydia's dad and Delia. She quickly mouthed it to the Maitlands who quickly mentioned it to Betelgeuse. 

He nodded and began to look through the Handbook for the page on how to help ghosts stuck in their house to leave and ghosts and leaving their house if they're stuck in the living world. 

The Maitlands went back to goofing around with Lydia, Barbara now tickling the teenager all over and Adam now ruffling her hair like crazy. Lydia was laughing like crazy and had just managed to get out from under the Maitlands. She walked around and catapulted herself on top of Adam, who teleported himself on top of her and sandwiched her in between both him and Barbara. 

"H-hey!" said Lydia, bursting into laughter. "No fair!"

"Yes fair!" teased Adam, tickling the teenager like crazy.

Barbara teleported out from under the living-dead pile and reappeared right on top of her husband. "Hah! Now you're sandwiched in between us, Adam, honey. What do you think to that?"

"This!"

Adam teleported out from under Barbara and reappeared on top of her. Lydia scooted out from under her ghostly guardians and went to sit on the sofa, taking out her phone and starting to scroll through it. The Maitlands were now laying face down on the floor side by side and snickering like crazy. They wanted to stay like that, not wanting to get up even when Betelgeuse asked them to join him on the couch.

"Guys, c'mon!" sighed Betelgeuse after about five minutes of the Maitlands just laying there and doing nothing. "Do you want to figure out if you can leave the house if I'm with you or not?"

Barbara bounced up and teleported herself and Adam over to the couch. 

"Figures," said Betelgeuse as the Maitlands sat down on either side of him.

"So, anyways...."

"Wait? Betelgeuse? You sure that it's possible for us to be able to leave the house if you're with us?" asked Barbara, looking curiously at the demon.

"I-," he began, but this time, Adam cut him off. 

"How long are we able to leave the house if it is possible?" 

"As long as you can. Just don't get eaten by any-." Betelgeuse was cut off by pillows being thrown everywhere. Lydia was standing up on a chair and throwing pillows that the Maitlands had summoned for her after she had asked at said ghosts and they were telekinetically depositing pillows on top of the teenager, apparently starting a pillow fight. "Guys? Can you cut that out. Sexy, Babs, do you want me to help you figure out how long you can leave your house?" 

"Maybe after this pillow fight, bug," said Barbara, her and Adam chucking pillows at Lydia and the teenager chuckling as she dodged them. 

"BEEJ, GIVE ME A BOOST!" shouted Lydia as she grabbed a couple pillows. The Maitlands looked at one another, unsure of what the teenager was planning. Betelgeuse did so and the teenager snickered before chucking the pillows at the Maitlands (who became transparent long enough to have the pillows thrown by Lydia phase right through them). "No fair."

"Yes fair," said the Maitlands at the exact same time, looking at each other and snickering as they started bombarding the teenager with pillow after pillow. 

"Guess I'm gonna be in the attic then," Betelgeuse said as he stood up. "When your pillow fight is done, feel free to come join me." The others all nodded, still focused on their pillow fight, and, with that, he teleported up to the attic to wait for the Maitlands and Lydia.


	19. Nightmares

The Maitlands teleported themselves and Lydia up to the attic at around half past ten that evening, finding Betelgeuse sprawled out across the couch. He was snoring, which Adam and Barbara had never heard him do at any given point in the last week. He shifted when he head Barbara cough to grab his attention and sat upright, looking over towards both the living and the dead. 

"It's about time," he said, stretching. "How long did that pillow fight of yours take?"

"We lost track of time," said Barbara with a laugh. "What seemed like twenty minutes was actually two hours."

Betelgeuse moved off of the couch and Lydia immediately clambered onto it, intending to fall asleep and allow her deceased pals some time to themselves. After all, that pillow fighting with the Maitlands had made her tired and she said it would be better if they met up with her dad and Delia in the morning. Of course, the Maitlands agreed to it. It seemed like a good plan. 

Barbara smiled softly as she materialized a blanket out of thin air and carefully covered the sleeping teenager she and Adam considered to be their adopted daughter. A warm smile appeared on Lydia's face as she rolled over, beginning to snore adorably. What she didn't know, was that she wouldn't be at peace for long.

Barbara turned to Betelgeuse. "Do you think it's easier if we see if we can leave the house through the back door? Lydia said it might be safer for us as it leads out to the back deck and Sandworms won't bother with us from that way. Which is good, considering the back deck is fenced."

"But a Sandworm could still snap at you," reminded Betelgeuse, fake sighing.

"Right," said Adam. "But we won't go out that far. Just outside the door." 

"Fine!" sighed Betelgeuse, preparing to teleport the three of them downstairs. But before he could, a loud thud sounded from over near the couch and all three deceased turned around to find Lydia laying on her back on the floor beside the couch and wiggling and shaking uncontrollably. She also seemed to be mumbling something.

"Lydia, you alright?" asked a worried Barbara, her and an equally worried Adam teleporting over to the scared teenager and helping her up onto the couch. 

"Nono. Mom! No!" whimpered Lydia. Barbara held her close, running a hand through the teen's black hair. 

"Lydia??" repeated Barbara, noticing the teenager was zoned out and staring straight ahead with a hand outstretched. "Everything's fine. Just know we're here for you."

Lydia snapped out of it, shaking her head at a constant rate and turning her attention over to Barbara, resting her head against the ghost's chest area. 

"Can you tell me what happened?" asked Barbara with a warm smile, holding the teenager close and running a hand down her back in an attempt to calm her down. 

Lydia teared up, looking a little unsure.

"Lydia, it's okay," soothed Barbara, hugging Lydia. 

Amidst her constant tears, Lydia shifted a little more into Barbara's hold and mumbled, "I had a nightmare. One relating to my mother. This time she seemed creepy. Nothing like her usual crazy, wild, mad self. A little scarier. Her eyes were a blood red and she looked like she was being possessed. Floating above her bed. I was a little freaked out. That's why I fell off of the couch."

Barbara pulled away from Lydia and rested her hand on the teenager's shoulder. "Lydia, like I said, everything's okay. It was just a nightmare."

"But... it felt so real..." whimpered Lydia. 

"All nightmares do," said Barbara, looking down then returning her attention to Lydia. "Tell you what. Do you want us to stay with you for a while. Surely Betelgeuse won't mind having to wait to help Adam and I figure out if we can leave the house without getting attacked by a Sandworm. Right, bug?" 

He nodded in response.

"That's fine," said Lydia softly, burying her head in Barbara's chest area again and sniffling a little. “You guys can do that in the morning and then we can go about teleporting up to New York by tomorrow afternoon if you guys can leave the house for a bit without being attacked and eaten by Sandworm. I don’t think I want to imagine my life without you guys. It would be scary and lonely for me. You guys did help me feel happier and more willing to appreciate life. In fact, I can’t imagine a life where I didn’t meet you.”

“We don’t want to imagine what our afterlives would be like without you, your dad, and Delia either, Lydia,” said Barbara, smiling softly and holding Lydia close when the teen wrapped her arms around the ghost. “You guys are like our family. Fate brought the six of us together and nothing is ever going to change that.”

“You’re right,” said Lydia, clambering back up onto the couch and allowing Barbara to cover her up with the blanket again.


	20. Morning of Mischief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a little longer than expected. I got noticed by both Sophia and Presley in a single week, two days apart.

By the time the sun arose the next morning, Lydia awoke to find herself on the floor next to the couch with the black blanket Barbara had summoned for her tangled entirely around her body. Adam and Barbara were currently working to untangle it from around the teen, leading Lydia to guess that it must've just happened. Betelgeuse was leaned up against a nearby chair with the Handbook open and on his face. Lydia rubbed her eyes then focused her attention on Barbara.

"What... happened...?" Lydia groaned, resting a hand on her forehead and attempting to sit up. 

"You fell on the floor and ended up getting tangled in your blanket," said Barbara as she urged Lydia to lay back down and went back to gently untangling the blanket from around the teenager.

"It... hurts... my back..." moaned the teen, laying on her back on the attic floor once Adam and Barbara finished up with freeing her. 

"You need ice?" asked Barbara, summoning the said stuff and holding it out to Lydia, the teen taking it without hesitation. "You must've really hurt your back. We did happen to hear a loud thud. Mind if Adam takes a look at it?" 

"Sure," said Lydia, sitting up (or at least trying to) at the instruction of Barbara. Seeing that she was struggling to at least stand up, Adam quickly used his powers to teleport the teen onto the couch. "Thanks, Adam." 

"You're welcome."

Adam felt over Lydia's back, the teenager flinching a little when his ice cold hand brushed over the rather large, and painful, bruise she had gotten from falling. Adam retracted his hand and Lydia handed him the ice she was given so he could press it against her back. It made her injury hurt a little more but she was okay. 

Adam and Barbara teleported themselves and Lydia downstairs to the kitchen so Lydia could have her breakfast. Betelgeuse would just have to join them downstairs whenever, hopefully he wouldn't mind. Barbara levitated a pan out from one of the cupboards and set it on the stove, using her powers to turn the stove on as Adam got the pancake mix and ingredients out of the fridge and the pantry and brought them over to her. Both ghosts used their powers to make the pancakes and Lydia was getting hungrier and hungrier as time went on.

Not even five minutes passed and Lydia was already bored, resting her head on the kitchen counter. "When... will the pancakes be ready?" 

"Soon," replied Barbara, floating over to the bored teenager and resting a hand on top of her shoulder. Lydia looked up at her and smiled, but Barbara could tell she wanted the pancakes now. 

"How soon...?" 

"Now," said Adam, turning the stove off. 

Adam used his powers to teleport the finished pancakes onto a plate for Lydia and Barbara levitated them over to her as Adam levitated some orange juice out of the fridge, pouring it into a glass for Lydia. Setting it down in front of her, Adam teleported into the living room and silently plopped onto the couch, summoning a newspaper and beginning to read it. Barbara stood over at the sink and was doing the dishes when she heard a smashing sound behind her. Turning around, she found Lydia face down on the counter with a pancake on her head and the rest of them surrounding her. The teenager's plate and glass were unbroken and on the floor, a puddle of orange juice not too far from the glass. 

"Lyds, what happened?" Barbara had to ask, laughing quietly. 

Lydia pointed upwards and Barbara's eyes followed the teenager's hand. She sighed upon seeing Betelgeuse hanging from the ceiling and smirking.

"What're you up to, mister?" Barbara asked, a smirk appearing on her face as she placed her hands on her hips. Betelgeuse's smirk became a grin and Barbara knew by now that she already knew the answer. 

"Oh, nothing..." said the demon, shrugging as he teleported down from the ceiling and sat down in the chair that was usually Lydia's. "'Cept that I wanted to create some mischief and figured now was the time to do so. You must admit, it was kinda fun to teleport Lydia on top of the kitchen counter and then create a mess of her breakfast all over the kitchen."

"I don't think she would have thought it was fun," remarked Barbara, raising an eyebrow and scowling. Adam, who had teleported back into the kitchen, noticed his wife start to get angry and her eyes glow brighter and immediately calmed her down. 

“C’mon B-Town, she’s my chaos buddy and best friend. Of course she would have thought it was fun.” Betelgeuse teleported out of the chair and teleported Lydia back into it, snapping his fingers and summoning a fresh breakfast of pancakes and orange juice for her. Lydia instantly began eating it in a manner that told Barbara the teenager, in fact, played a role in Betelgeuse’s mischief. 

“Lydia, did you ask Betelgeuse to do this or did he do it of his own accord?”

“Whispered it to him in secret so you guys didn’t know what was about to happen,” was the teenager’s response. 

“Bug, we should have told you sooner but one of the house rules that came with us allowing you to live here was ‘no mischief’. Promise you won’t cause anymore?” asked Barbara.

“I promise...” He smirked. “Not.” 

“BETELGEUSE!”


	21. Fight or Flight

It all happened in a flash. One minute, Barbara had been extremely calm, the next, her eyes were glowing bright and her balled fists were glowing pinkish-orange. Adam and Lydia had barely any time to react, holding the enraged female ghost back and trying to keep her from doing anything. It had gotten to the point where Barbara was constantly trying to get out of their hold. This just made Adam and Lydia hold onto her a little more.

"Barb, you need to calm down," Adam said, he and Lydia both now struggling to keep hold of her. "He was probably just messing with you when he said he was not going to stop causing mischief."

"HE'S NOT GOING TO BE WELCOME HERE!" was Barbara's response as she pulled out of the grip her husband and adopted daughter had on her. As she leapt at Betelgeuse, Adam used his powers to hold her back. Barbara let out a loud growl, her fingers clawing at the air as her husband pulled her back and directed her over to the couch with Lydia's help. Sitting the enraged female ghost on the couch, Adam and Lydia sat on either side of her. 

"Let me at him!" Barbara floated upwards off the couch and prepared to tackle Betelgeuse to the ground, but Lydia grabbed a hold of her leg and pulled her back down. 

"Wow, you told me what happened last time but I never expected to see something quite as serious as this," commented Lydia, reaching up and pulling Barbara back down towards the couch at the female ghost's third attempt to attack Betelgeuse. 

"Yeah, but last time, it was both Barbara and I who were violent towards Betelgeuse," Adam replied. "She must have not fully gotten accustomed to the idea of Betelgeuse staying here with us quite yet, whereas the rest of us are. He's become a part of our family now and we all need to treat him as such."

"GUYS!" shouted Betelgeuse from the entrance to the living room. Adam and Lydia glanced over to find Barbara pinning him to the ground and trying to claw at him. 

Adam sighed and stood up to go help whilst Lydia pulled out her phone (most likely to call Delia and talk to her about this situation). Lydia sighed and opened up her contacts, as Adam struggled to separate his wife from Betelgeuse, and scrolled through them until she finally found Delia’s contact. Clicking on it, she turned her attention over to her deceased pals and giggled a little at the sight of her adoptive ghost father being thrown backwards with a still enraged Barbara in his grip. The female ghost had gone back to trying to get out of her husband’s hold, with little to no success this time. Sending a quick text to Delia, Lydia put away her phone and went to help Adam.

“Barbara, stop,” her husband said, using his powers to hold her in midair when she pushed Lydia to the ground in an attempt to get to Betelgeuse again. Noticing the injury Lydia had gotten was bleeding heavily, Adam snapped his fingers and it disappeared as quickly as it was caused. “You know what Delia said the last time something like this happened. This isn’t like you. You need to stop.”

At that, Barbara snapped out of it and her eyes returned to normal. Adam released his hold on his wife and she floated down to the ground. Rubbing her eyes, Barbara glanced from Adam to Lydia and then to Betelgeuse. “What... happened?” 

“You tried to attack Betelgeuse and you pushed me to the ground in an attempt to get to him,” said Lydia, holding up her right arm to showcase what remained of her injury. Barbara became wide eyed at the sight of it and held up her hands in apology. 

“Lydia, I am so so sorry,” she said, teleporting over to the teenager and pulling her into a tight hug, which Lydia reciprocated with a forgiving smile. “It was like I went completely feral this time around. Completely different from when Betelgeuse first showed up again.” 

“We all forgive you, Barbara, hon,” said Adam, he and Betelgeuse coming over to join the two females. “It was just an accident. Betelgeuse was joking when he said he was going to not cause more mischief than he had, right bud?”

“Yeah, I was joking. I was going to tell you that before you went all feral on me, B-town,” said Betelgeuse, looking at the female ghost. She smiled, accepting his apology. 

“Now, I’m going to go upstairs and spend some time alone,” said Lydia, standing up and going to head upstairs for a while. “Give my dad and Delia a call and let them know that we’ll meet up with them soon. That should give the three of you just enough time to figure out if you can leave the house without worrying about a Sandworm attack.”

All three deceased nodded and Lydia rushed upstairs to give them some time. 

Summoning the Handbook, Betelgeuse moved to the couch and motioned for the Maitlands to join him. As soon as the two ghosts sat down on either side of him, Betelgeuse opened the Handbook and handed it to Adam to read.

“Now, let’s see here...” Adam said just as soon as he put his reading glasses on, his eyes scanning the particular page that Betelgeuse had bookmarked the night before. “Can ghosts leave the house without having to worry about a Sandworm attack?”


	22. Days Gone By

After about an hour and a half of reading through the Handbook (Adam and Barbara wanted to know other things about the dead, Betelgeuse wasn't sure why), Adam and Barbara decided to give it a go. But it was utmost impossible with the two of them just standing there and staring nervously at the door. Betelgeuse was growing impatient. How much longer was this going to take? 

"Adam, you go first," said Barbara calmly, urging her husband forward. She had a gentle (mischievous) smile on her face. 

Adam shook his head then held a hand out towards the door. "Nono, Barbara, hon, you go first. It seems only fair." 

"You go first. I insist."

"No, you go fir-." 

Betelgeuse seemed to have grown annoyed, his hair turning a fiery red as he snapped his fingers and teleported Barbara in front of the door. She seemed startled at it happening, as she shook her head a few times and turned to look in the demon's direction. "Bug, you sure about this?"

He nodded and Barbara looked to Adam, nervous.

"Hey?" Her husband teleported over to her and smiled as he rested a hand on top of her shoulder. "What happened to Barbara 2.0?"

Barbara had to laugh. "I haven't gone back to my old self, Adam. I'm just nervous because we haven't tried to leave the house since we died. What if what we just read is factually incorrect? That would be a dud." 

"Then we'll just have to stay here and wait for Lydia, her dad, Delia, and Betelgeuse to get back from New York," said Adam with a shrug. "If that does happen, the week will fly by in a breeze. You know it's going to."

"Are either of you gonna give it a try?" Betelgeuse spoke up from where he currently was in the kitchen. "It's almost dark and-."

"Adam, Barbara, isn't it dinnertime?" asked Lydia, coming down the stairs and entering the kitchen. "I texted Delia to let my dad know that the four of us are going to meet up with them tomorrow and she said that's okay."

"That gives us a little more time to see if it's possible for us to leave the house for a short while then," said Barbara as she headed into the kitchen to start on some dinner for Lydia. "Lyd, you don't mind having the attic all to yourself for a little while tonight if you want to sleep up there, do you? The rest of us can stay down here and Adam and I can do a little testing on leaving the house for the first time since our deaths." 

"Not at all," said Lydia, grabbing herself some silverware. Adam summoned a cup of ice water for the teenager and set it on the counter in front of where she was sitting. "I don't mind. You guys take as much time as you want." 

Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse nodded and Barbara turned off the stove, possessing the pasta she'd made to float itself into a bowl for Lydia, whom she levitated over to and set down in front of. Lydia smiled at the female ghost and dug in. 

After finishing her pasta and placing the bowl and glass in the sink to be cleaned later, Lydia sat on the couch and looked at her phone whilst the Maitlands and Betelgeuse went back to their earlier conversation (which they were sure they'd started when it was morning). Lydia was about to text her dad and Delia goodnight when she heard loud laughter coming from above her. Looking upwards, Lydia snickered as she spotted the Maitlands floating above her and grinning like crazy.

"Guys, what's going on?" she chuckled, though she already knew what they were planning on doing. Standing up and moving towards the center of the living room. She felt the ice cold hands of Barbara tickling her all over. Adam decided to join in on the fun, using his powers to levitate Lydia in the air whilst Barbara summoned a feather and used it to tickle the laughing teenager. “Guys, stop. This is fun but I’m not that ticklish.”

“You sure about that?” Adam queried in a playful voice, also summoning a feather and using it to tickle the teenager. 

“Guys,” Betelgeuse shouted. “Isn’t it around midnight?” 

Again Adam and Barbara looked at one another and then over at Betelgeuse. 

“Midnight already? Lydia, why don’t you head upstairs?” asked Adam, levitating the teenager back down towards the ground. 

Lydia nodded and rushed upstairs to get ready for bed. Upon hearing the teenager shout goodnight to them, all three deceased turned their attention back towards the door leading out to the back porch and Adam and Barbara went straight back to telling one another to go first much to Betelgeuse’s annoyance. 

At this rate, another day might as well have passed by before they could even know how long they could be outside for.


	23. Lydia’s Fear

“Lydia, you okay?” asked Barbara, her and Adam rushing into the attic at the slightest sound of a loud thud and Lydia screaming out a plethora of curse words. The teenager was once again tangled up in a mess of the blankets that Barbara had summoned for her the previous night. “Let us help you.” Freeing her from the last of the blankets, Barbara sat Lydia on the attic’s couch and sat down beside her, pulling her close to her. 

“Thanks again, guys,” Lydia said, letting out a sigh of relief. 

“You’re welcome. Now, what happened, sweetie?” asked Barbara, running a hand through Lydia’s hair. 

“I had the same nightmare as last night. Though it was darker. This time my dad was also acting like he was possessed and it scared me. What if it’s a sign to something bad?” Lydia said, a tone of worry in her voice. 

Adam rested an arm around the teenager’s shoulder. “Well, wouldn’t Delia have let you know if something like that had happened? What was the last text she sent you?”

Lydia pulled out her phone and opened up her messages. “The last text Delia sent me was a simple ‘good night’. Same as my dad. Maybe I’m just imagining things.”

The Maitlands nodded, agreeing.

“Anyway, have you guys managed to stay outside on the back deck for a while without even encountering a Sandworm?” Lydia asked, deciding to change the subject. Adam and Barbara exchanged glances and returned their attention to Lydia.

“Adam didn’t want to,” said Barbara. “But I did. Though I wish we could have tried to leave the house through the front door if....”

“If you guys didn’t end up in an alternate realm by doing so. Same as Betelgeuse. At this rate, I think it’s safer for us to teleport to New York from the back deck.”

“That would work. But Adam has to stay outside on the back deck for a little while before we can,” said Barbara, shooting Adam a knowing glance. “He can do that in the morning and then we could go about meeting your dad and Delia in New York.”

“Hey, I would have gone out there if I wasn’t afraid if some other ghost eating creature tried to attack me!” retorted Adam. Barbara let out a giggle, resting a hand on his shoulder. 

Betelgeuse teleported into the attic, the Handbook in his hands and still open to the same page as earlier. “Sandworms are the only known creatures that eat ghosts and you don’t need to worry about one getting you from the back deck. It’s still a part of the house, same as the roof actually.”

Although still nervous, Adam nodded. “I’ll give it a go then. But just for a couple minutes.”

Betelgeuse nodded as well, both males teleporting downstairs again. Barbara moved off of the couch to allow Lydia some room to lay down again, levitating the blankets that were all still strewn over the floor and covering Lydia with them one by one.

“You want me to stay up here with you for a while? At least until you fall asleep?”

Lydia nodded. “Of course. Thanks, Barbara.”

Sitting on the couch in the only open spot, Barbara reached out a hand and smoothed out the topmost blanket. Lydia made herself comfortable, keeping her eyes open and focused on Barbara. Noticing a tinge of fear in the teenager’s eyes, Barbara stood up from the couch and kneeled down next to Lydia. “You still worried about that nightmare you had?” 

“Yeah...” Lydia nodded, her gaze flicking to the attic floor. “This one felt so real. It took place in the hospital where my paternal grandmother died. Delia was in the nightmare as well. She just... looked so scared when my dad got possessed.”

Barbara looked down then at Lydia, putting a hand on the teenager’s shoulder. “What if it was a vision?”

“It didn’t feel like one though,” Lydia said softly, shifting a little and sitting upright on the couch. 

“I had plenty of visions back when I was alive,” said Barbara. “And some were as dark as the one you had. This one time,” she paused mid sentence to let out a quiet laugh, “I had what I thought was a vision similar to yours where Adam was possessed. I woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and I didn’t want to fall back asleep. I had let out a loud scream that woke Adam up and he spent the rest of the night comforting and consoling me. Neither of us managed to get much of any sleep for the rest of that night.”

“That must’ve been crazy.” 

“It was,” said Barbara. “Luckily it never happened again. Although, it did happen not too long before Adam and I died. So maybe it was a sign that pointed to our deaths.” Upon hearing the sounds of Adam and Betelgeuse teleporting back into the attic, both females turned their attention onto them. “Adam? What do you think? You don’t think the vision I had the month before we died was a sign pointing to our deaths, do you?”

“Hmm... now that I think about it, that could be possible. I never even thought about it. Beej, can you flip to the section on visions?” The demon nodded, flipping to the requested section and handing the Handbook for the Recently Deceased over to Adam. “Prior to death, the living can experience a supernatural vision: mostly consisting of the living getting possessed. Very common and happens to every living person before their death. Why ask?”

“Lydia had a vision where her dad was possessed. And she’s getting very worried. I don’t know what’s going on and neither does she...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh... a cliffhanger... 😱 I wonder what happens next? 🤔🤫😮😉


	24. Bundle of Nerves

"Whoa whoa, guys," said Adam in a concerned voice. "Explain to me exactly what's going on. Barbara, you said Lydia had a vision of her dad getting possessed? Did she have any other visions?”

Barbara nodded, then turned her attention over towards Lydia, who was looking at her with both worried and sad eyes. It seemed like she did not want something like this to keep on happening to her, if it was going to be that way. Barbara felt for the teenager, floating over towards her and pulling her close. Burying her face against Barbara’s chest area, Lydia let out a few quiet sniffles and Barbara began to run her hand throughout Lydia’s hair.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Barbara calmly spoke to the upset and nervous teenager. “You can let it all out, Lyd.” 

“I... I... what if I have another vision... I- don’t... I,” Lydia said, her voice muffled due to the fact that she had buried her face further against Barbara’s chest area. “This is starting to scare me... what... what if I have yet another vision and... and it’s of you guys getting exorcised?”

“We’ll stay here with you until you feel comfortable to fall asleep. And hopefully you won’t have yet another vision. Especially of Adam and I getting exorcised. If there’s one thing I’ve got to say, me getting nearly exorcised once is enough,” said Barbara, now running her hand up and down a sobbing Lydia’s back in another attempt to calm her down. Lydia’s constant sobs seemed to be quieter yet still frequent. She was calming down, but it was clear she was still a little scared of having further visions. 

“That’d be great, Barbara. Thanks,” said Lydia and Barbara could tell that the teenager was starting to get tired from how nervous she had been. Or was it her constant sobbing that was causing that? 

Barbara levitated the teenager back over towards the couch once she had pulled away from her and ceased crying and laid her down on it, covering her with the blanket again and sitting at the other end and calming the teen down enough to allow her some sleep. The moment she heard Lydia start snoring and talking quietly to herself, Barbara stood up from the couch and joined Adam and Betelgeuse, both of whom had gone back to looking at the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, over in the corner.

“Find any solution as to what’s going on with Lydia?” questioned Barbara. “I have the feeling this is not because she’s going to die young - which I hope does not happen I may add.” 

Betelgeuse had to agree. “You’ve got a point. If that was going to happen, I would know and right now, i cannot sense her death!” 

“How do you know who’s going to die and when?” questioned Adam, directing the attention of the demon onto him. “Does it happen multiple times per day?” 

Betelgeuse tilted his head a little and made a ‘hmmmm’ noise. “One question at a time, A-Dog. One: their name, face, time, place, and cause of death appear in my head and I make a mental note of it. And two: yes, it does happen multiple times per day. You guys got any other questions?” 

“I got two!” Barbara spurted out, her excitement causing everything she and Adam had in the attic to float in midair and teleport where it usually isn’t. Adam laughed inside and snapped his fingers, putting everything back where it used to be. 

“Barbara, you did that excitement thing again,” he said, directing his wife’s attention over towards him. “Seriously, you’ve got to control that.”

Barbara chuckled, snapping her fingers and causing Adam to float upwards in midair. “What if I didn’t!” she said, a snarky edge to her voice as she snapped her fingers and teleported Adam in one of the most unusual places to hide in the attic. 

“What if I teleported you somewhere tight?” questioned Adam, sounding a little playful. 

Betelgeuse playfully rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, teleporting Adam back into the main part of the attic and turning his attention over to Barbara. “What are your questions, B-Town?” 

“Oh... um... one: do you get some sort of feeling inside of you when you get the information for a recently deceased person fresh in your mind?” 

“I get a tingly, pulsating feeling,” responded Betelgeuse. “Any other questions, Babs?” 

“Yeah! Two: do you always have to be present when someone’s about to die and only appear to whoever it was once they have died much like back when Adam and I first met you?” 

“Not always. Only special cases.”

“Special cases?” the Maitlands questioned at once, sounding equally as worried. “Can you tell us more?”

“That’s all I can say, unfortunately. It’s against the rules of the Netherworld for guides to talk to the special cases of the recently deceased.”

“Well, this isn’t the Netherworld, Beej,” said Barbara, slapping a hand upon his shoulder and looking him in the eyes. “You can tell us about this regardless. We are, according to you, a special case and we would like to hear more about it.” 

Before Betelgeuse could say anything in response, a loud, piercing scream from Lydia tore across the entirety of the attic and the Maitlands sprinted off in her direction, hoping and praying that nothing serious was happening. Betelgeuse just stood there for a few seconds then followed the Maitlands. This nagging feeling he had just gotten was doing nothing but bugging him and he knew that something was seriously wrong. But what?


	25. The Beginning of the End

"Lydia, Lydia, calm down. Is everything okay?" asked Barbara, sitting herself down next to the crying teenager and holding her close. Lydia rested her head against Barbara's shoulder and sniffled quietly. Barbara wiped a few stray tears from the teenager's eyes and ran a hand through her hair a few times. Lydia seemed to be calming down. Eventually enough to tell the Maitlands and Betelgeuse what had happened. "What happened??"

"I- I had another one of those visions. This time it was Delia getting possessed. And this time I was there as well." Lydia started crying harder that time, Barbara beginning to run a hand up and down Lydia's back. 

"It's okay, sweetie, it's okay," Barbara said softly, looking over towards Adam and Betelgeuse with worry. 

All three deceased began to fear that this was going to lead to something bad and they didn't want that fear to be a reality. Adam and Betelgeuse moved to sit down on the couch with Betelgeuse summoning the Handbook again. He flipped to the bookmarked section they had been reading through earlier and handed it over to Adam. 

"Here's something on mediums and mediumship," said Adam, looking from Barbara to Betelgeuse to Lydia back to the Handbook. Everyone else looked down at the Handbook as well, all equally as curious. As he read on, Lydia started shaking her head rapidly and pulling harshly at her hair. Barbara looked over at her with a look of concern and Adam halted with his reading. 

"Had another vision, Lyds?" asked Barbara knowingly. Lydia stopped and turned her head to look at her.

"Yeah. This one, both my dad and Delia got possessed." 

"You experiencing anything besides constant visions?" asked Adam. 

Lydia nodded. "I've been hearing voices. They don't sound anything like you guys or Beej or my dad and Delia, but I've been hearing voices. Started after I experienced the first of my visions."

Adam nodded, turning his attention back over towards the Handbook and closing it. I think it's time we met up with Lydia's dad and Delia in New York City. Tell them what's been going on with Lydia." He put the Handbook down and stood up, followed by everyone else. That seemed like a great idea.

"Lydia, can you text your dad and Delia to let them know that we'll be there soon?" asked Barbara. 

Lydia nodded and pulled out her phone, quickly checking to make sure it was morning (which it was). She pulled up the message app on her phone and sent quick texts to both her dad and Delia. Delia responded first, sending a thumbs up emoji a crystal ball emoji, and a gemstone emoji. Lydia's eyes widened and Adam and Barbara looked to her with looks of concern. 

"Lyd, is everything alright?" 

Lydia held out her phone and Adam and Barbara looked at the text on it's screen. "This text! I saw it in my vision of my dad getting possessed. The emojis were in the exact same order as they are here! Now I'm really worried." 

Another text popped up on her phone, a simple "okay" from her dad. 

Adam and Barbara looked at each other, quietly speaking and Lydia started to pace around the attic with a hand rubbing through her hair. She bit her lip as she tried to think and prevent herself from getting any more visions. Betelgeuse focused his attention over to the Maitlands and went over to join them. Stopping pacing, Lydia joined her deceased pals as well and they looked at one another.

"You guys all ready?" asked Barbara, summoning a couple suitcases for Lydia and handing one to Adam. Barbara turned her attention to Lydia. "Lydia, we'll talk to your dad about the visions you're having, 'Kay?" 

Lydia nodded. "Kay."

Adam turned to Betelgeuse. “You sure we’ll be able to walk around New York without any Sandworms out to get us? I mean, if and whenever - we’ll be walking around for more than a few minutes. And, before I forget, is there anything in the Handbook that would make us visible to other living people?” 

Betelgeuse handed the Handbook for the Recently Deceased over to Adam and he flipped through it, bookmarking the page when he found the exact spell he was looking for: a spell that would make him, Barbara, and Betelgeuse visible to the living for a week and a half at the latest. 

“There. That should do it!” Adam announced as he made the Handbook disappear into thin air and turned to face everyone else. “Lydia, what was the address of the hospital Charles and Delia are at?”

Lydia, after finding the text, read off the hospital’s address, and her deceased pals nodded in unison. 

Adam and Barbara each placed a hand on Lydia’s shoulders and Betelgeuse placed a hand on Adam’s, thinking of the address Lydia had read off earlier and in a flash of light, the four of them were teleported off to the hospital in New York.


	26. In The Nick of Time

If Charles hadn't been pacing the room he and Delia were currently in at the moment, he would've probably not nearly crashed into his daughter, the Maitlands, and Betelgeuse as they appeared, in a bright flash of light, in the center of the room. He halted his pacing and moved out of way right in the nick of time. He and Delia went over to join the rest of the family, him wrapping his arms around his daughter and Delia starting up a conversation with the Maitlands and Betelgeuse.

After a while, the conversation Delia was having with all three deceased subsided and the four of them moved to stand over by Charles and Lydia.

Upon seeing worried looks plastered on each of their faces, Charles asked, "is something the matter?"

Delia chose to explain the situation for the Maitlands and Betelgeuse. "Apparently Lydia's been having a series of visions. All of which having something to do with both of us being possessed. She, Barbara, Adam, and Betelgeuse are all worried about that and don't know what to do."

Charles blanked out for a second then came to, rubbing his beard with his hand. "When did they start?"

"A couple nights ago," replied Barbara. "We don't know what's going to happen if she keeps on having them."

Charles nodded, scratching his head. 

Adam summoned and opened the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, handing it over to Charles who took it. "I have this particular section bookmarked. Figured you would want to take a look at it."

He read the part about visions and the part about mediumship, closing the book and handing it back to Adam. The male ghost summoned it away, focusing his attention back on the rest of the family. Charles cleared his throat, saying, "has she been experiencing anything else as well?"

"I've been hearing voices," said Lydia. "Unfamiliar voices at that." 

"Hmm...." Charles rested a hand under his chin, thinking to himself for a few minutes. "I think we should take her to a local medium to get a little more insight on this. Delia?"

"I know a local medium that just might help Lydia out!" the redheaded life coach chirped out rather excitedly, clapping her hands together. When the deceased members of the family and Lydia all just stared at her with worry, she stopped and said, "when I studied in college to become a life coach, one of my closest friends was a medium. If I recall correctly, she still lives and works around these parts." 

"Well, we need to see her as soon as possible. Are you still in contact with her, Lia?" asked Barbara, deciding to shorten the life coach's name. 

Delia nodded as she pulled out her phone and opened the message app, finding the contact she was looking for and sending a quick text. Putting her phone away, Delia returned her attention to the rest of the family. "I just sent a text. Hopefully it won't be long until I even get a reply from her. If I get a reply from her."

'Ping!'

Delia pulled out her phone again and read the text that was on the screen. "She would like to see us immediately. According to her, what's happening to Lydia is serious." 

As the six of them left the hospital and began on their way to the medium that Delia herself knew, Charles turned to his wife with a serious question fresh in his mind. "Did she say what exactly it was?"

Delia shook her head. "No, she did not. She'll explain everything when we get there." 

Charles nodded in response, turning his attention back to what was in front of him. 

They made it to the townhouse Delia's medium friend lived in and Delia rang the doorbell before stepping back and waiting. After what seemed like forever, the door opened and Delia's friend, a slender white woman around the same age as Delia and Charles stepped out, looking around at the waiting family of six. 

"Delia! It's been forever!" She wrapped her arms around her and the two of them pulled away after a few minutes. "Come on in, all of you!" she urged the lot in. The living filed inside and the dead teleported inside, the seven meeting up in the living room. Sitting herself down on the couch after offering the living something to drink, she turned to Delia. "Now, you said your stepdaughter's been having visions and hearing voices right?"

Delia's response was a nod and her friend wrote that down. 

Delia's friend turned to Lydia. "Have you been seeing things? Like shadows out of the corner of your eye? Or ghosts that aren't those two?" She gestured to Adam and Barbara, both ghosts immediately becoming appalled. "Or even demons that aren't him?" She gestured to Betelgeuse. 

Lydia leaned back, resting her arms around the Maitlands' shoulders. "Other than all of my deceased pals? No. Not really."

"I see..." Delia's friend wrote that all down as well. 

Adam looked towards Delia's friend with an expression of astonishment that matched that of Barbara's. Turning to him, she asked, "yes?"

"How can you see us?" he asked, his tone filled with confusion. 

She let out a small laugh. "All mediums can see and communicate with the dead. Some from an early age. Others at a later age. I, myself, have been able to see the dead from an early age, having first taken notice when I was around four or five years of age." 

Adam nodded in response and Barbara hummed in agreement, the two ghosts holding Betelgeuse, who was desperately trying to hit on Delia's friend, back. 

"But the first time I saw the Maitlands and Betelgeuse, I was in a state of depression from losing my biological mother. Can you explain more about that?" Lydia asked. 

"It may have something to do with that. Or it could stem from your childhood."

Charles chose to speak up. "Now that I think about it. When she was younger, she always told her late mother and I about the shadow people in her bedroom." 

With another nod, Delia's friend wrote that all that down before turning to Lydia. "You ever thought about becoming a medium yourself?"


	27. Medium Awareness

"She said I could start with the Maitlands and Bj," Lydia said as she and her family left Delia's friend's, who had forgotten to introduce herself to them until the end of the session, saying that her name was Verity, house. She hadn't thought much about it, but she didn't realize she hadn't thought much about her future until now and she was only sixteen years of age and graduating from high school soon. "But what did she mean by that?"

The family continued on until they reached the last restaurant Lydia, her dad, and her late mother ate at before her late mother got sick, Delia breaking the unnerving silence that had befallen the six of them, "Lydia, did you by any chance happen to hear Adam, Barbara's, and Betelgeuse's names in your head before you, your dad, and I first moved into our house in Connecticut?" 

Lydia looked thoughtful for a moment whilst her dad confused the maitre d' by asking for a table for six (she could have sworn she heard the woman mumble under her breath that there were only three of them there. Yet her dad somehow managed to still reserve the lot of them a table). "Hmmm... even before we moved to Connecticut, I must've heard Adam's and Barbara's names in my head... I didn't think much about it until now."

As the six of them made their way into the restaurant and sat down, Delia handed Lydia the book Verity had given her and said, "why don't you look through this as we wait."

"Maybe when we get to the hotel my dad booked for us," said Lydia, sliding the book back over to her stepmother. "Or maybe once we return home?" 

Delia nodded, though she, Charles, Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse all wondered when the teenager was going to have enough time to read through the book when they returned home as she still had to go back to school. Maybe on the weekends?

Their drinks and food came quickly, despite there being a ton of families who still had yet to get their food that had come in before them. But they didn't mind. After eating and paying for lunch, the six of them headed over to the hotel where they'd be staying. Although Charles and Delia thought it would be better if Lydia was with them, they decided it would be better if she shared a room with the Maitlands and Betelgeuse (Lydia knew this was because she could read through the book her stepmother's friend had given her and spending more time with her deceased pals meant that she could learn a little more about psychic abilities and mediumship. Maybe even find new ways to communicate with them).

Lydia threw herself onto the singular bed in the room and turned over onto her back to look up at the ceiling as Barbara sorted through the teenager's suitcase, putting her pajamas in the uppermost drawer of the dresser drawers across from Lydia's bed and her toiletries in the bathroom for later). She turned at the slightest sound of laughing and was immediately met with the sight of Lydia standing up on her bed and pointing a makeshift sword directly at Adam, who appeared to be the one laughing. 

'Now where did she get that from?' Barbara pondered to herself. 

"Whatever are you two doing?" Barbara teasingly asked, putting her hands on her hips and slyly smirking at her husband and the teen girl the two ghosts thought of as their pseudo daughter. 

"I wanted a toy sword. Adam summoned me one made of cardboard," said Lydia, smiling and giggling as she proceeded to jump on her bed. 

Barbara silently shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully, looking around the room for signs of Betelgeuse. "Where'd Betelgeuse go? I could've sworn he was here fifteen minutes ago."

"Went to bother Delia about something. When I asked him about it, he didn't say what it was exactly but I have a feeling it has to do with mediums," said Adam in response, who had since summoned a cardboard sword for himself and was engaged in a pretend toy sword fight with Lydia.

Five minutes passed for the Maitlands like it was a single second and Lydia was now sat cross legged on her bed with her book on mediumship and psychic abilities open and on her lap. Betelgeuse had since teleported back into the room and still would not tell the Maitlands the reason why he went to talk to Delia. They decided not to ask after a while, deeming it to be not as important. 

“Now this, I can’t understand,” Lydia commented, looking confusedly at a particular page in her new book. “Adam? Barbara? Beej? Can you help me out with figuring out exactly what this is supposed to say? It’s written in some ancient language.”

Adam and Barbara moved to sit down on the bed and on either side of the teenager, Adam summoning his reading glasses and levitating them onto his face. As Lydia handed him the book, Betelgeuse moved to float above the three of them, curious. He had the feeling it was something only those dead for centuries could understand but brushed it off.

“I can’t seem to understand what this says either. Barb, you have any idea?” Adam asked after a few minutes of trying to understand the particular paragraph Lydia had pointed out to him, handing the book over to Barbara. 

Barbara took it and scanned the paragraph very carefully. “Nope! Haven’t any clue what this says either! Betelgeuse?!”

She levitated the open book up to Betelgeuse, who looked the spoken-of paragraph over a few times before looking down at Lydia and the Maitlands. “That paragraph is clearly some sort of ancient prophecy.” 

Lydia exchanged a curious glance with the Maitlands and the three of them looked up towards Betelgeuse.

“About what?” they asked at once.

“It just says ‘a special young girl with a connection to ghosts will bound and bring together the worlds of the living and the dead’.” 

“A special young girl with a connection to ghosts will bound and bring together the worlds of the living and the dead,” Lydia repeated, looking at the Maitlands with a quizzical look on her face. “What if the prophecy in my book relates to me?”

“Well.” Barbara put a hand on Lydia’s back and the teenager focused her attention directly onto her. “You brought your family and us together, so... it could be possible. Adam, go tell Delia to text Verity and let her know we need to talk about that prophecy. I think it holds a deeper meaning than us being brought together as one family.”


	28. Benefit of the Doubt

"Hmm... it could be possible that this prophecy you mentioned to me might have something to do with Lydia, but I'm gonna need to know more..." Verity turned her attention solely onto Lydia. "How did the visions start?"

"I don't know. The first time it happened, it just happened. That's all," was Lydia's reply, the teenager glancing around the room then at the floor. 

Verity nodded in response, writing all of that down before turning her attention over towards the Maitlands. "What happened every time she had one of her visions?"

The Maitlands glanced at one another, having some sort of mental conversation with each other, then returned their attention back over towards Verity, Adam choosing to be the one who spoke up, "she's been talking in her sleep and falling off her bed." 

Verity nodded again. "How often are these visions of hers?"

"Once a night," replied Barbara. "She's had one every night for the past three nights."

Verity quickly wrote that down, turning her attention back to Lydia. "Have you experienced anything of the sort before you had any of your visions?" 

"Like voices in my head? Shadows out of the corner of my eye?" questioned Lydia. Verity nodded. "Well, I have been hearing a voice in my head before every vision I have. Although it's brief. And I can't tell what the voice is. It just comes and goes. The shadow out of the corner of my eye thing happens before. Be it five or ten minutes before I happen to have a vision." 

Verity nodded again, writing that down. "You said the visions were about members of your family, living or dead, getting possessed?" Lydia nodded. "Did the visions have anything in common?" 

"Other than possession, no," was Lydia's response. 

"Did you get a voice in your head that said anything about your visions?" Lydia shook her head. Verity turned her attention to the Maitlands. "Did you guys feel as though anything was wrong when Lydia first started having the visions?" 

The Maitlands looked at one another, trying to think. After a few minutes, they turned their attention back over towards Verity. 

"Well," said Barbara, looking at Adam again before turning to look at Verity again. "We did get strange feelings that Lydia might be in trouble. Which we fear might happen if she has more visions." She and Adam turned their attention over towards Charles and Delia, the two living adults nodding in agreement to what Barbara had said. "In fact, these visions Lydia's been having did start after Betelgeuse showed back up in our lives and afterlives."

Adam, Barbara, Charles, and Delia glanced up towards Betelgeuse, who had been floating in midair and looking down at everyone else, their eyebrows raised and scowls set on their faces. 

Betelgeuse took notice of the looks, levitating down towards the ground and holding his hands up in front of him. "I don't have anything to do with Lydia having visions. If you read through the Handbook, it explains that a medium's psychic powers can come up at any given time." He turned his attention over towards the Maitlands. "And Lydia's might have come to be after she first met you guys."

"Well," Barbara had to say. "It does explain why Adam and I needed to protect her in a time of need. Maybe the two of us shared some sort of psychic link with her that we didn't know about?" 

"Well," Verity said, looking over towards Barbara. "All mediums and psychics do have psychic links with ghosts." 

Adam and Barbara nodded in response. 

A while later, the six of them were back in the hotel room Lydia shared with her deceased pals, Charles and Delia sitting on the edge of the Maitlands' bed, Lydia sitting down on the floor, Adam and Barbara standing over by Charles and Delia, and Betelgeuse was once again floating in midair, looking down at the rest of the family. Lydia was reading through the book on mediums she'd been given, learning all she could about mediums, their psychic abilities, and the links they shared with the dead. Adam and Barbara seemed to be looking through the section on “psychic links with the living and the dead” in the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, wanting to learn more about the subject. 

Adam came across a very interesting paragraph in the book. “Hmmm... it says here that mediums will have the strongest links and/or connections with the ghosts they feel closest to,” the male ghost said, his eyes scanning that particular sentence in the paragraph over and over again. 

“Huh! That’s weird,” Lydia suddenly commented, gazing down at the page in her book that she was currently on in confusion. The attention of the rest of the family snapped towards her, all the adults stopping what they were doing. “It says that exact same sentence right here!” She pointed at a paragraph in her book. 

Handing the Handbook over to Barbara, Adam floated over and took a seat on the floor right beside Lydia. Lydia handed him her book, which was still open to the exact same page as earlier, and he gazed down at the page, eyes set on the paragraph containing the same sentence as that particular paragraph in the Handbook. After a few minutes he looked up at the rest of the family, all of whom were looking towards him with worry. 

“She’s right,” he finally said after a few seconds of silence. “That sentence is phrased the exact same way as it is in the Handbook. I wonder what other information in this book matches up with the information on mediums given in the Handbook.”


	29. Symbolism

“That’s interesting!” Adam commented, he and the rest of the family staring down at the two books that were sitting open on Lydia’s bed side by side. “That’s pretty much the exact same information given on mediums in both books. Both paragraphs are phrased exactly the same way.”

“What about prophecies relating to the supernatural and death?” asked Barbara in a curious tone of voice, she and the rest of the family turning their attention away from the two books and towards each other. “Especially the one that might be referring to Lydia. Do you think both books mention it?”

Betelgeuse snapped his fingers and flipped the pages of both books simultaneously until he got to both sections on ‘prophecies’.

Adam moved to stand over near the demon, looking down towards the two books. “Yes! It does mention that prophecy in both books exactly word-for-word. As well as a few more prophecies that I cannot understand. I mean, what are all these.... weird looking symbols supposed to even be?” 

Adam moved off to the side as Betelgeuse carefully scanned the old, vintage pages of the strange symbols in both books that he was confused by. After a while, he turned his attention over towards the rest of the Maitland-Deetz family, all of whom had moved off to one of the far corners of the room and were watching him with equally curious looks plastered on each of their faces. 

“Those are symbols from an ancient spiritual language that was spoken in the Netherworld over two thousand years ago,” explained the demon as the color of his hair turned a light shade of platinum gold, making the rest of the family even more curious than they previously were. “It’s obsolete as of right now, and only those demons who were around at the time that language was still spoken, like myself for example, and ghosts who died at that time can understand.” 

“Well, if it’s symbols from a dead, ancient language, then why are they shown in Lydia’s book on mediumship?” asked Barbara out of confusion, Adam, Lydia, Charles, and Delia humming in agreement. “According to one of the pages at the beginning of it, it was written only very recently. So why it has symbols written in a language we can’t understand, I don’t know.”

“That’s a very good question, Babs. I don’t know.”

“Can you read out what the paragraph of symbols says?” asked Adam, his eyes sparkling just a little. “What if it’s some sort of ancient prophecy relating to ancient demons. Or if there was someone who lived a super long time ago that once linked together the worlds of the living and the dead. That would be interesting, right?”

Betelgeuse nodded only just a little in agreement, turning his attention back over towards both of the books and focusing mostly on Lydia’s book on mediumship. “Long ago, there was peace between the worlds of the living and the dead. But every day, the link between both worlds will weaken and weaken until it breaks, making doors to the Netherworld unable to open, stranding the spirits and ghosts of those who die forever more in the world of the living, and forcing them to walk amongst the living undetected and unseen. To keep that from happening completely, a special young medium with a connection to ghosts will have to bring the peace between both worlds back before it’s too late.” 

“Well, that gives more detail into the prophecy that we all think has something to do with Lydia,” said Adam as Betelgeuse closed both of the books and went to join the rest of the family. “But we still don’t know as to what might’ve caused the peace between both this world and the Netherworld to shatter completely. Nor do we know why the link between both of the worlds is getting weaker every day. Betelgeuse?”

“Nobody knows why,” the demon responded with a simple shrug. “It’s not really talked about as much anymore in the Netherworld. I think it was one of my mother’s strict rules put into place back when she was in charge of the whole place.” He huffed out of annoyance just as soon as finished saying the last of the sentences. 

Thump! 

That sound directed the attention of all four adults, as well as Betelgeuse, over towards both of the beds. Lydia was sitting down on the floor, her arms crossed and resting on the edge of her bed. She seemed to be asleep for some reason, but her eyes were open and focused directly on the far wall behind the rest of her family. Charles, Delia, Adam, and Barbara exchanged worried glances with one another, rushing over towards the teenager as quickly as they possibly could.

“Lydia? You okay?” Barbara kneeled down in front of the teenager and waved a hand in front of her face. Lydia snapped out of it, shaking her head rapidly for a few minutes before turning her attention onto Barbara and the rest of the family.

“What... happened?” Lydia mumbled out, falling forward a little. Barbara managed to catch her just in time and steadied her with her powers.

“We heard a thump,” Barbara explained, her voice soft but full of worry. “You seemed to be in some sort of trance.” 

“Do you remember anything?” her dad asked, he, Delia, and Adam sitting down on the floor on either side of Barbara. Adam sat to her left and Charles and Delia sat to her right. 

“Well, I did have another vision. But this time, you guys were all being possessed in unison and Betelgeuse was nowhere in sight. Is there a list of what repetitive visions or dreams can symbolize? Because I have a feeling that even though all my visions have something to do with possession, I don’t think I’m going to die soon.”

Adam picked up Lydia’s book and flipped through. “Nope. There’s nothing on that.” 

“Great!” grumbled Lydia out of sarcasm, laying herself down on the large white, fluffy, square shaped rug that was set down on the floor in front of her bed with a thunk and glaring up at the ceiling with an annoyed look on her face. “Just great!”


	30. Missing Links

"Betelgeuse?" Adam asked, turning his attention over towards the demon, who had resorted to floated cross-legged in midair and glance towards the rest of the family. "Do you know of anyone from the Netherworld that could help us and Lydia? Because we really need to know what her visions mean."

Betelgeuse nodded in response. "I do. I'll be back in a little while." 

Quickly drawing a door to the Netherworld and knocking on it, Betelgeuse headed through right through it. The rest of the family could have sworn they saw it close behind the demon much slower than the first door to the Netherworld that Adam drew opened. And, by slower, it looked a little like it was faded and struggling to close. 

All five of them glanced at each other worriedly then turned their attention back over towards the now closed door to the Netherworld. 

"You don't think...?" Lydia was the first to question, saying exactly what was on the mind of all four of the adults. 

"That was strange..." commented Adam, snapping his fingers and levitating both of the books that had still been left sitting on the edge of Lydia's bed closed for the last fifteen or twenty so minutes over towards him and opening Lydia's book to the page that contained the symbols of that ancient, dead language. "We'll need to let Betelgeuse know about all of this when he gets back with whoever he went back to the Netherworld to find." 

Half an hour had passed when the same door to the Netherworld was pushed open a little by Betelgeuse, he and who Lydia and her dad immediately recognized as the deceased, green skinned beauty pageant winner that they had met the first (and only, hopefully) time that they were in the Netherworld.

"Betelgeuse told me what happened," she said, grabbing Lydia by the hand and sitting her down on one of the two beds in the room and sitting down next to her. Turning her attention towards the rest of the concerned family (minus Betelgeuse) who all had their eyes focused solely on her. "These visions she's been having seem to be a little concerning. Perhaps it's got something to do with the future?"

"That's what we don't know," said Adam. "There's also some sort of prophecy that might have something to do with her. Not to mention the door to the Netherworld Betelgeuse drew to get there seemed to be acting a little strange."

"I did notice the door wouldn't seem to open on it's own, so I had to push it open as much as I could," said Betelgeuse, turning to his green-skinned companion. "Miss Argentina?" 

"Entiendo," Miss Argentina said, looking from Betelgeuse to Adam to Barbara to Delia to Charles and back to Betelgeuse. "This whole ordeal is a little confusing though. Can I see the much smaller, thinner book?" 

Adam levitated said book over towards Miss Argentina, the latter taking it and opening it before flipping to the exact page with the strange prophecy that Betelgeuse had talked about. 

"Sí. Entiendo," said Miss Argentina, her eyes scanning the page. "This is a prophecy of some sort, but I think you guys need to make sure Lydia is in fact the special young girl/medium that it talks about that."

"Wouldn't we already know that from the fact that doors to the Netherworld and back have been acting strange since we first started talking about that particular prophecy?" asked Adam, looking a little confused. 

"Soy perdón?" 

"Well, a paragraph about the prophecy did say something about the link between the worlds about the living and the dead weakening and weakening as the days went on. Now must be when it's at its weakest. What if we need to do something? Where does Lydia fit into all of this?" said Barbara. 

"Dunno," was Adam's response. He, Barbara, and Betelgeuse turned to look over towards Miss Argentina, who was giving them a rather confused look. 

"Esto parece preocupante," said Miss Argentina. "All of the problems with the doors to the Netherworld, that is."

"How exactly did the peace between the living world and the Netherworld dissipate?" asked Adam, directing the question towards Miss Argentina.

"No lo sé. I died in the late 1930's/early 1940's, so the Netherworld wasn't exactly peaceful at that time to now. Ask Betelgeuse." 

"Betel-..." 

"No clue. I was never told anything about the subject, remember?" 

"And then there's us," Adam said, gesturing to himself and to Barbara. "Betelgeuse kept us from entering the Netherworld for some reason and now I want to know exactly what that reason is."

"Something about you guys still needing to get the closure you needed from life," explained Betelgeuse, hovering in the air. 

"So, the closure we needed was a family of our own right?" Betelgeuse nodded. "That must have been the reason why Adam and I felt some sort of connection with Lydia when we first met her."

"Every medium has a special link with certain ghosts," Miss Argentina explained, both the Maitlands and the Deetzes turning their attention over towards her. "For the ghosts that the medium is closest to, the link and/or connection is considered to be stronger."

"Well, she seems to come to us if she needs something a lot more often than she goes to her dad or to Delia," replied Barbara, looking over towards the teenager, who had gone back to reading through her book on mediumship. "Maybe it's due to how strong the link between us is."

Adam nodded in response, then turned to Barbara. "Honey, do you remember ever hearing any voices in your head right before our deaths or before we even met Lydia or her father or Delia?" 

"Sort of?" Barbara replied, though she sounded a little confused. "What's that got to do with anything?" 

"What if us, the Deetzes, and Betelgeuse becoming one big family is the first step to bringing the peace between the world of the living and the Netherworld back and strengthening the barrier between both worlds?"

“You do make a point,” Barbara replied, looking around the hotel room before turning her attention back over towards Adam. “I think you’re right.” 

“Always am!” 

“Adam!” Barbara playfully elbowed her husband and gave him a rather goofy look, which he returned. 

As Betelgeuse instructed Miss Argentina to head back into the Netherworld and find out as much information as she could about the barrier between the Netherworld and the living world, Lydia’s eyes widened as a particular paragraph near the end of her book caught her eye and she let out a gasp that directed the attention of her family onto her. They moved to stand over near her as Miss Argentina stepped through the door to the Netherworld and it closed shut with a quiet squeak. A sort of sound Betelgeuse knew it wasn’t supposed to even make. He teleported over towards where the door had been and felt something a little off about it.

“That’s strange,” he whispered quietly to himself.

“Lydia, is something wrong?” asked Barbara out of a tone of concern in her voice that could easily be mirrored in the expressions on everyone else’s faces, placing a hand on Lydia’s back and calmly instructing her to calm down as she started to hyperventilate. 

“There’s a paragraph...” Lydia paused to take a much needed breath, “on one of the last pages in this book that I think you guys should take a look at.”


	31. Second Sight

"A medium can start getting more than constant and repeating visions of possessions (for example, visions that have more or less to do with dark, shadowy figures tormenting them or certain ghosts fading out from existence). However, these kinds of visions are more rare and there are only a few recorded cases of mediums experiencing such visions. Special cases of mediums are different, though. The visions that they get do start at the common, repetitive visions of possession but sometimes their visions can let them know that something has happened or is going to happen," Adam read out loud, glancing down at Lydia's open book on mediumship. 

"Signs a medium is about to get, or is getting, such visions include more frequent voices in their head, seeing more frequent shadows out of the corner of their eyes, and, rarely, being told to do things that are considered to be dangerous. Some mediums tend to sleepwalk as a result of these visions, though that is uncommon," Barbara read on, exchanging glances with Adam."

"What if I get these visions," muttered Lydia, her head down and her gaze focused directly on the carpeted floor. She kicked her legs back and forth at a slow pace, a small sign that the Maitlands had picked up on that meant she was anxious, stressed out, or starting to worry about even the littlest things. Barbara placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We can keep tabs on the visions you have gotten and any visions you get in the future," the female ghost said, a small smile on her face. She summoned a blank notebook and floated it down into Lydia's lap. 

Setting her book on mediumship aside, the teen turned her attention to the notebook, looking down at its black cover patterned with smiling ghosts and gravestones.

"Thanks, Barbara. And what about that prophecy. Do you think I might start having dreams or nightmares about it?" 

"Well, every door to the Netherworld that we've seen in the past two hours has been acting strange, though we still don't know if that prophecy is linked to it. We're going to need to look more into it," said Barbara, looking towards both her husband and Lydia. 

Adam flipped through the Handbook, stopping again at the page on prophecies that included some of the prophecies that were also written about in Lydia's book. "Looks like everything we know about the prophecy is everything that's mentioned here on this page and in Lydia's book." 

Barbara nodded slowly, closing her eyes, opening them, and glancing around the room at the rest of the family. "Well, we can keep an eye on Lydia overnight for the next few nights just in case she has visions."

The rest of the adults nodded in unison, Charles looking at the time on his phone. "It's nearly dinner." He turned his attention to the Maitlands. "You guys want to eat with us? I know you can't eat anything, but I just want to know." 

"No," said Barbara, looking back towards him. "It's absolutely fine. If you, Lydia, and Delia are planning on going out somewhere to eat, then you guys can. You don't need to worry about us. Adam, Betelgeuse, and I can stay here and see if we can find out more information about the prophecy and Lydia's visions." 

"I'd like us all to go out," Charles replied as he, Lydia, and Delia stood up and turned their attention to the Maitlands, who exchanged glances before looking back at the Deetzes. 

"But Adam, Betelgeuse, and I are not visible," Barbara reminded the living male. "Nobody outside of you guys and Delia's friend, Verity is going to see us." 

"Right. Maybe we can figure out a way to make you guys visible to others," replied Delia. 

"What if Lydia makes A-Dog, B-Town, and I visible to the rest of the world by saying my name," suggested Betelgeuse. Charles turned and stared him down. 

"I don't know about that," the living male said ever so sternly. "The last time she summoned you and made you visible, all you did was cause trouble and attempt to murder others. Not to mention tricking Lydia, who was fifteen at the time, into green-card marrying you."

"All of that I regret," Betelgeuse replied. "I'm a changed demon, Chuck. Remember."

"I-." 

"If summoned again, I won't do anything that ends with Lydia killing me again," Betelgeuse continued. 

"Fine!" Charles grunted after a few minutes of silence. 

"Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse!" said Lydia, glancing over towards the aforementioned demon in hopes that it would work. 

Surprisingly, it did. As they followed along behind the Deetzes, the Maitlands looked around at the area around them and took notice of the strange feeling that they would get whenever a tourist walked right through them upon exiting a store. It usually resulted in either the tourist giving them a weird look or them apologizing, which was met with a strange look from the tourist. The restaurant Lydia chose looked old fashioned and like it was built around the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Maybe the Maitlands or even Betelgeuse could do a little old-fashioned haunting here? Asking Charles was met with a stern 'no!’

“But think of the fun stuff we could do! We could make the entire restaurant believe that all of the haunting was done by a historical ghost of some sort and not us!” Betelgeuse said as he, Adam, and Barbara phased through the doors of the restaurant and attracted even more attention and some whispers from tourists that were either about to enter the restaurant or were on the street opposite the restaurant.

“My answer is ‘no’ and I’m sticking with it!” Charles spoke up. “We’re here to eat and spend time as a family, not to make the place haunted.” 

“Chuck! You are no fun!” Betelgeuse grumbled out of annoyance, the Maitlands both pulling childish, pouty faces at the living male as the six of them sat around a circular table right smack dab in the middle of the restaurant.


	32. In High Spirits

Barbara float-paced around the hotel room she, Adam, Lydia, and Betelgeuse were staying in. Adam sat on the edge of the bed that would’ve been his and Barbara’s, reading through the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and trying to find out more information he could about mediums, that prophecy, and visions (so far he wasn’t having any luck, much to his chagrin). Lydia rolled over in her sleep, and Barbara could’ve sworn she heard the teenager mumble something about their house back in Connecticut catching on fire. 

She sat on the edge of Lydia’s bed, reaching a hand out towards the teen and effectively waking her up, the teen sitting upright in bed and rubbing her eyes before focusing them directly on Barbara. “Is.... something wrong?” 

“I should be asking you the same question.” Barbara reached a hand out to gently move a few strands of Lydia’s short black hair out of her eyes and the teen looked out towards the wall opposite her bed. “You were mumbling something about the house catching on fire. It wasn’t yet another one of your visions, was it?”

“No, it was a dream luckily. But it certainly felt more like a vision to me. Maybe it’s a mix of both?” 

“What if it was a nightmare this time around,” Adam spoke up, both females, looking equally as confused as one another, turning their attention over to him. “It says here that mediums can sometimes encounter nightmares in addition to the dreams and visions that they usually encounter. The subject of these nightmares can often, but rarely ever, relate to something bad happening. Most often, it’s something bad that happens to a house that ghosts inhabit if said ghosts are away from it too long.” He turned his attention over towards Betelgeuse, who was lounging in midair and wearing sunglasses for whatever reason. “How long is too long before something bad happens to our house?” 

“Should be a really long time from now.” Betelgeuse snapped his fingers and his sunglasses disappeared into thin air as he turned his attention to the male ghost. “We’ll all be back there before anything bad of sorts can happen to the house.”

“That’s a relief.” Adam shut the Handbook for the Recently Deceased and, with a wave of the male ghost’s hand, it placed itself back right beside Lydia’s book on mediumship. 

“But shouldn’t we go and check to see if nothing bad’s even happened to the house? Just to be sure,” Barbara inquired, looking from Adam, to Lydia (who had fallen back asleep but was still kicking like crazy and mumbling to herself), to Betelgeuse, and back towards Adam, who now looked like he was worrying like crazy. 

“We’ve only been here for a day,” Adam had ceased ‘pretend-worrying’, as Barbara herself hilariously termed it back when they were alive, and turned his attention over towards the snickering female ghost. “I’m sure even if we do che- what?”

“Sorry... sorry... I was only giggling because you were ‘pretend-worrying’ like you used to do back when we were alive.” 

“Are you ever not going to refer to that as me ‘pretend-worrying’?” Adam teased back in an ever so playful tone of voice, standing up and adjusting his stance into a-sort of play-fighting position, the same stance he used to assume any time Barbara would playfully mess around with him back when they were still alive. 

Barbara knew what was coming next, making the same adorable squeaking noise as she did back then and diving out of the way as Adam leapt towards her, giggling just a little. Barbara made sure not to end up phased halfway through the wall of their room and the wall of the room right next to theirs, knowing full well that whoever was staying in said room would freak out big time over the fact that dead people were staying in the exact same hotel as them... if they could even see them that was, which Barbara hoped and knew was more likely.

She dove behind a chair, peeking out from behind it as Adam looked around for any signs for her and eventually spotting a few strands of her clear blonde hair peering out from behind the same chair Barbara had been hiding behind for not that long. He quickly turned himself invisible, moving stealthy towards Barbara’s chosen hiding place without her knowing for the moment. 

Barbara peered out from behind the same chair that she had been hiding behind when she thought she hadn’t heard Adam make any sort of noise or movement towards her, only to jump backwards in surprise when Adam suddenly made himself visible again, revealing himself to be standing on the chair and peering down towards her with a slightly amused and goofy grin plastered on his face.

“Got ya!” he teased, bending over the top of the chair and pretending to tickle her. 

“Adam! You joker!” Barbara teased back, bursting into what seemed like a never ending bout of joyous and bubbly giggles, which Adam still found to be amusing yet adorable. Barbara’s giggling eventually came to an end and she gave Adam a sly look, to which he replied to with a playful gasp-like noise. “I’m gonna get you back!” 

“Barbar-!” Adam started to say, still managing to sound a little bit amused and playful, being cut off when Barbara floated out from behind the chair and back down towards the carpeted floor, taking a running leap at her husband and tackling him to the ground. The both of them burst into equal bouts of laughter as Barbara moved to tickle her husband all over nonstop and Adam playfully tried to push her off of him, to no avail. 

“This is what you get for pulling that playful surprise attack on me,” Barbara spoke up in a amused, playful, joking, yet sly and goofy tone of voice, playfully pinning her husband down to the floor and holding his arms against the sides of his form, preventing him from getting away from her. She let go of one of his arms and he started to pretend to crawl out from under her as she went back to tickling him all over and making him chuckle endlessly. This was one of their favorite games to play back when they were alive and it truly felt that way doing it yet again. 

However, their playfulness quickly toned down at the sight of the sunlight filtering through the window, bathing Lydia’s face as the teenager woke up. Barbara scrambled off of Adam and allowed the male ghost to stand up as she went to sit on the same chair that she hid behind when Adam had surprised her hilariously with his invisibility jump scare joke. Lydia stretched and rubbed at her eyes, focusing her attention onto the Maitlands and noting that they were giggling and looking amusingly at one another. 

“What’s going on, guys?” Lydia asked in an amused voice as she climbed out of bed and walked around it, coming to a stop in front of the Maitlands with her arms crossed and what sounded like playfulness in the tone of her voice. 

Adam and Barbara exchanged another amused glance then returned their attention back over towards Lydia. 

“Oh.... nothing,” was Adam’s response as he and Barbara stood up. “Barb and I just had a little fun, that’s all.” 

As the sound of Charles knocking on the door and asking if any of them wanted to join him and Delia in the hotel’s restaurant, Lydia let out an amused laugh. “That must have been really fun for you guys. You used to goof around like that back when you were alive?”

After Lydia got dressed and the four of them went to leave their hotel room and followed Charles and Delia down to the hotel’s dining room, Adam laughed as he said, “yeah, it was one of the things that brought Barbara and I together. The first time she did it at summer camp, it amused me a little too much.” 

“Adam!” Barbara playfully elbowed her husband. 

“What?”


	33. Out-Of-Sorts

Lydia couldn't take much more of anything, her vision suddenly becoming blurry. She started to sway, her family stopping and looking at her with concern. And as Lydia felt herself start to fall to the ground, Barbara teleported over to her and steadied her as she lay her down on the floor. The rest of the family crowded around both females, ignoring the concerned looks that onlookers were giving them and the whispers that came along with it.

Barbara ran a hand through Lydia's short, black bob cut, whispering things as the rest of the family debated on what to do. Just this morning, Lydia had been absolutely fine. So they were unsure as to what had initially caused Lydia to pass out. Whether it had something to do with that prophecy they'd been reading about lately, they weren't entirely sure. When they got back to the hotel room, they were going to need to do a little more research on mediums and on mediumship, as they were now sure that there was a lot that they still didn't know. 

As Charles sat down on the floor next to his daughter, Barbara scooted a few feet away to give the living male some room. She stood up and moved to stand over near her husband and Betelgeuse as Delia too kneeled down on the floor next to Lydia.

"It's like she's out cold," Charles explained in a rather frantic voice, him and Delia looking over towards all three ghosts. Adam, Barbara, and Betelgeuse all crowded around their living family, blocking the view of some of the onlookers who had since crowded around the family of six and were talking over one another.

"But she was fine just this morning," Barbara said, worry filling her voice. "What do you think could have happened?"

"You guys need to get her up to your hotel room as soon as possible," Charles said to the Maitlands and Betelgeuse, all three of them nodding in unison. 

Charles and Delia stood up and moved off to the side as Barbara gently scooped Lydia up into her arms, her, Adam, and Betelgeuse teleporting away in a flash of light with the teenager in tow. Charles and Delia payed for breakfast and quickly hurried out of the room as quickly as they could, ignoring the faint whispers from the onlookers that were clearly about the sudden and brief flash of light in the middle of the room.

Upstairs, Barbara laid the teen, who was now snoring away, on her bed, using her powers to pull the covers over her. It was at that moment that they heard the frantic knocks of Charles and Delia, Adam teleporting over to the door to let them in. Both of the living adults rushed into the room, nearly knocking over Adam - who made himself invisible to them in the nick of time - as they moved to stand over near where Barbara and Lydia were. 

Adam made himself visible again, teleporting over to the rest of the family as they moved to sit around the sleeping Lydia. Summoning an ice pack, Barbara levitated it onto Lydia's forehead. Betelgeuse levitated the copy of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased that Adam had left sitting on the chest of drawers situated directly across from Lydia's hotel bed, handing it to said male ghost. Adam took it and began flipping through it until he found what he thought what it was he was looking for. 

"Side effects of mediumship and psychic powers," Adam read aloud, turning the attention of the rest of the adults and Betelgeuse over towards him. "Lightheadedness...."

Barbara peered over her husband's shoulder. "Sudden onset of stabbing pains and constant headaches." 

"Memory loss." 

"Tiredness."

"Temporary loss of vision." 

"Loss of balance?"

All four adults glanced at one another, confused as to why a sudden loss of balance be a side effect of mediumship? Deciding to ignore it, Adam and Barbara continued to read through the list of side effects, Charles and Delia listening along. 

"Constant visions and dreams/slash nightmares." 

"Cold sweats. This is rare though, and doesn't always happen."

"A sudden onset of hallucinations." 

"Confusion." 

Adam flipped to the next page in the Handbook, reading through it quietly to himself before looking at the rest of the adults and Betelgeuse. "The next page in the book is an expansion of what we already know about mediums/mediumship."

"Then I think we need to read through it. Who knows, there might be some more information on the prophecy that might be helpful."

Adam nodded, he and Barbara taking turns reading through the page until they got to the bottom, where a word that they couldn't understand was written down. Since it looked to be written in a code of sorts, Adam levitated the book over towards Betelgeuse in hopes that the demon knew what it was. 

"There appears to be a sort of code word written here on this page. Do you think it's a clue to the prophecy?" 

Betelgeuse took the book, looking carefully at the word oh the bottom of the page. "It's a name written here actually." 

"What name?" all four adults asked at once, all equally as curious as one another. 

"I know this sounds crazy, but it appears to be Lydia's name that's written here." 

"WHAT?!" 

"Urgghhh...." 

They heard Lydia shifting in her bed, Adam closing the Handbook for the Recently Deceased once Betelgeuse handed it back to him and levitating and setting it back down on the chest of drawers as the five of them moved a little a ways away to give the teenager some room. She opened her eyes, looking around the room she was currently in. 

"Lydia? Are you okay?"

The teenager's eyes closed and opened yet again and she glanced upwards to find all three of her deceased pals and her dad and Delia, all worried, sitting around and glancing down at her. A splitting and painful headache made her feel out-of-sorts, and her vision was a little blurry. She wasn't exactly sure as to what happened. The last thing she remembered, she and her family had been eating breakfast and talking. 

Lydia sat upright, closing her eyes tightly as a sudden stabbing pain coursed through her head. She placed a hand against her forehead, unable to stay awake. Barbara moved to sit behind her, placing a hand on her back to keep her steady. 

"What happened?" Lydia managed to ask as another stabbing pain came and went. 

"You passed out when we were downstairs eating breakfast and talking," Barbara explained as Lydia turned her head and glanced at her. "Adam, Betelgeuse, and I got you back upstairs to our hotel room as quickly as we could, Charles and Delia meeting up with us not too long after."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some consideration, I have decided to continue on with writing this. I had initially started up on writing a sequel to this, but that didn't get that much attention. And this story isn't really over yet, there's a lot more that I still have yet to cover.


	34. First and Foremost

"Do you remember anything happening... just before you passed out, Lydia?" continued on Barbara, moving to sit down on the bed next to the teenager, placing one of her hands on the teenager's forehead and feeling nothing but a coldness coming off from her. "Any visions or dreams? Uneasiness? Anything else?" 

"Yes and no..." The teen girl fell quiet, racking her brain for the right words to say, then spoke up again. "I remember feeling a bit woozy... and kind of sickish... and experienced a vision I don't even want to mention." 

Lydia tried to get out of bed, but Barbara extended out a hand and halted her. "I think you need to rest some more, sweetheart."

"I'm fine," Lydia murmured. "I'm not tired." 

Barbara rolled her eyes in amusement, getting up off Lydia's bed and allowing her to get up out of it. Lydia moved around her bed and sat herself down on the edge, Barbara again sitting down next to her and beginning to rub comforting circles into the teen's back; which she most definitely needed at the moment.

Over in the corner, Adam sat at the desk that was situated over by the window/door; reading through the Handbook and jotting down as much information as he could possibly find or already knew (like the rest of the family) on the prophecy and why it had to do with Lydia herself. Barbara stood up from the bed and moved to stand over near her husband, curious over whether or not he'd found some more information on the subject. 

"You find anything?" she asked, leaning over her husband's shoulder and glancing down at the near-full page of information he was almost done with. 

He stopped with his note-taking, putting down the pen he'd been holding and looking up at her. "Not really. There isn't really anymore information than what we already know. I really think we're hitting a dead end on all this prophecy stuff."

Barbara spotted something she had barely noticed before, pointing it out to Adam. "What's that?" 

Adam glanced back down towards the part of the page where Barbara had initially pointed towards, studying it carefully. “I’m not sure. I can barely read what that says. And it’s glowing rather brightly, which makes it even more difficult to even read.” 

Barbara nodded in response, a serious look on her face, turning to Betelgeuse. “Can you help us figure out what the heck this says? Neither of us understand it.” 

Betelgeuse nodded in response, teleporting himself in a flash of light over to the Maitlands and taking a quick look at the glowing word at the bottom of the page that the Maitlands had pointed out to him. “It says ‘peace’, I think. It’s a little too bright for me to really see.” 

“First it was Lydia’s name and now this?” Adam stood up and turned to look at Barbara and Betelgeuse, a concerned look on his face. “You don’t think both books are trying to tell us more about the prophecy. And the more we talk about it, the more information about all of this is being revealed to us? Like a series of hidden messages?” 

Barbara looked down towards the carpeted floor as she placed a hand under her chin and Betelgeuse scratched his head, the two of them as concerned as Adam was.

“You do have a point,” she said, flipping the page of the Handbook and glanced down at yet another glowing word right smack dab in the center of the page. “Does that say ‘home’ or am I just imagining things” 

Adam moved over to stand over near her and glanced down at the same page, followed by Betelgeuse, the former stating, “that definitely does say home. You don’t think the Handbook is telling us that it’s best we figure all of this out back home in Connecticut? Because I’m getting that feeling. You?” 

Barbara nodded, giving her husband a knowing look. “Yeah...” She turned her attention over to Betelgeuse as she glanced around the room at the Deetzes, all of whom had their eyes focused on all three deceased, curiosity present within their expressions. “What about you guys?”

Lydia glanced from her dad to her stepmother then focused her attention back over towards her deceased pals. “Well, I just got a vision that we were all back home and figuring out everything about this ‘prophecy’.”

Barbara nodded inquisitively, her, Adam, Lydia, Delia, and Betelgeuse looking over towards Charles as he scratched at his beard, deep in thought. “Then I guess we better go home again.” Turning to the Maitlands, he asked, “do you guys think you can teleport all six of us downstairs or do you think that’s going to be a little too much?” 

“We can do it with help from Betelgeuse. Or Betelgeuse can be the one who teleports us downstairs to the lobby, as Ad and I are still newly dead ghosts and don’t have as much experience as he does.” 

Charles nodded and Betelgeuse snapped his fingers, teleporting the lot of them, as well as all the luggage they had from both rooms, downstairs to the main floor of the hotel and the lobby.

As Charles checked them out, the other five members of the family sat off to one side and chatted away, topics including ‘the prophecy’ and ‘what they were going to do regarding it once they teleported back into their house. Lydia sat in between the Maitlands, kicking her legs back and forth as Barbara and Adam read through the Handbook and looked for more hidden messages. So far, they’d found things like ‘connection’, ‘vision’, ‘dream’ , ‘link’, ‘bond’, ‘psychic’, and ‘cleave’. And they were starting to wonder what all of these words, as well as that one instance of Lydia’s name and the mention of the word ‘peace’ had to do with one another. 

Barbara flipped to the next page, her eyes widening in utter shock as she came across two glowing words that were very clearly her and Adam’s names. She tapped Adam gently on the shoulder and handed the book to him, mouthing, “okay, this whole thing is getting stranger and stranger by every passing minute.”


	35. Boundary

Barbara closed the Handbook and handed it over to Adam, who levitated it into one of the suitcases that sat in front of the lot of them as Charles came back over and sat himself down next to Delia. 

Upon hearing Lydia and Betelgeuse laughing, the four adults looked up to find the two of them standing over by a water fountain. Well, Lydia was standing right beside the water fountain; Betelgeuse was inside of the water fountain and splashing random people as they passed by. Barbara stood up and made her way over to the two of them, a hand resting on her hip, an eyebrow arched, and an unamused look on her face. Betelgeuse stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her, as did Lydia. 

"May I ask what you're doing?" she asked, her voice low. 

Betelgeuse and Lydia glanced at one another, then turned their attention back to Barbara. 

“Betelgeuse decided that it would be fun to prank various passersby by splashing them with water,” explained Lydia with a sheepish grin on her face. “He wanted me to join in.” 

Barbara looked over her shoulder at the rest of the adults, then turned her attention back over towards Lydia and Betelgeuse; the latter of the two having gone back to splashing people with water. Barbara sighed and rolled her eyes, snapping her fingers and teleporting herself, Lydia, and Betelgeuse back over to where the rest of the family was sitting. 

“B-town!” Betelgeuse complained. “Way to ruin the fun I was having.” 

Barbara chose to ignore that, turning her attention to Charles and Delia. “You guys don’t mind if Adam, Betelgeuse, and I teleport ourselves, you two, and Lydia back home? Do you?” 

Charles and Delia looked at one another then turned their attention back over towards Barbara, nodding. Barbara nodded as well, looking towards Adam and Betelgeuse and motioning for the two of them to stand over near her and the Deetzes. They teleported over to them and all three deceased snapped their fingers, a flash of light appearing around the three of them and the Deetzes. 

Needless to say, random passersby were stunned into silence when said flash of light appeared in the middle of the hotel lobby and vanished as quickly as it appeared, staring confusedly at the area where the Maitland-Deetzes were previously sitting. 

They appeared in a pile right in the middle of the floor of the living room back in their house in Connecticut. The Deetzes, all dazed and confused, struggled when it came to standing upright, and moved over to the couch to sit down for some time, all three of them needing some rest and much needed naps. 

And to say the Maitlands were tired out from teleporting six at once would be far from an understatement. Betelgeuse, since he was a centuries old demon, did not appear to even be that tired out; which Barbara and Adam guessed had something to do with how much more experience he had than they, still technically recently deceased, did. 

Betelgeuse snapped his fingers, and the other five immediately became less tired than they had been not even three minutes ago. Barbara and Adam glanced at Betelgeuse with looks of confusion present in their eyes. 

“Can you do that? Or is that something ghosts and demons with as much experience as you can do?” questioned Barbara. 

“The second thing.” 

Barbara nodded, turning to Adam as he levitated the Handbook out of the suitcase he’d put it in and flipped it open to the same section that contained all those glowing words that they’d found, they were pretty sure, an hour ago. He reread the pages of said section until he came across yet another glowing word that neither ghost had seen the last time they read through the section, then handed it to Barbara; the female ghost’s eyes staying focused solely on the particular word.

‘Boundary.’


	36. Close Call

Strange, unusual, family, six... 

More and more glowing words were starting to appear in the Handbook, and the Maitland-Deetzes were starting to piece things together. The words were starting to relate to their family life and afterlife. And they had the distinctive feeling that the prophecy extended out to include them and not just Lydia. And, to be fair, as always, Lydia needed her family by her side. 

Barbara was spending some time in the living room with Charles and Delia, the three of them sat on the couch, laughing and talking over a variety of subjects. Betelgeuse was currently in the Netherworld and helping Miss Argentina with something after the latter had said that she needed him to be there. No one knew when he'd be back. 

Adam was upstairs with Lydia, in the latter's bedroom, helping the teenager out with finding and decoding any new glowing words that could've potentially appeared in the Handbook for the Recently Deceased overnight. And them finding much of anything would be considered an understatement. Adam scratched his head as he looked through the book again then promptly turned his attention onto Lydia, who had rolled her chair over to the middle of her bedroom and was now spinning in it at such a fast pace. 

"Lydia," he spoke up, a hint of amusement in his voice. But there was also a hint of sternness in his voice as well, which Lydia caught immediately and stopped what she was doing. "Are you supposed to be doing that?" 

When the chair stopped spinning, its back was facing Adam. And Lydia was now kneeling on it, peering over its back at the stern looking male ghost with a pleading pout plastered across her face. "Awwww... C'mon, Adam! Can you please use your powers to make my chair spin at a fast rate on its own? I want to just sit in it as it spins. And not have to kick my feet in order to make it spin."

"Not right now, Lyd. We still need to find any more glowing words that could have appeared in the Handbook."

"Later?" 

"No, Lydia." 

Lydia sighed, standing up and pushing her chair over next to where Adam was standing and again looking through the Handbook. As the teenager sat herself down on the chair and face planted on her desk, Adam stopped on a certain page and looked over a word carefully. He was sure that particular word wasn't glowing the last time he read through the Handbook and now that it was...

'That's strange,' he thought to himself as he studied the word for a few more seconds before writing it down on a piece of paper that contained all the other glowing words that they'd found. 

The word in question was 'close'. 

Adam closed the Handbook, levitating it and the list of glowing words into the air as he made his way over to the door to Lydia's bedroom and exited it, closing the door behind him and turning to head downstairs. Lydia, who had been taking a short nap, stood up immediately afterwards, now hungry, and made her way downstairs for lunch. 

Adam sat on the couch to the right of Barbara, with Charles and Delia still sat to the female ghost's left, and he was going over the list of words with them. The Handbook was sat, still closed, on the coffee table in front of them. 

"So far," Adam spoke up as he read through the list of words that he was now holding in his hands. "We've got a plethora of words like close, boundary, strange, unusual, family, six, cleave, home, peace, vision, dream, psychic, connection, link, bond, my name, Barbara's name, and Lydia's name." He stopped talking for a few minutes, them added, in a joking sort of manner, "what's next? Charles' name? Delia's name? Betelgeuse's name?" 

He put the list of words he'd been holding down on the coffee table and picked up the Handbook, opening it when Barbara pointed out the glowing page in the middle of what they now knew was the section on mediumship and flipping to said page.

Upon seeing the glowing words (or rather names) on the page, Adam's eyes widened and he looked from Barbara to Charles and Delia and then back down towards the Handbook for the Recently Deceased, looking at each of the words again to make sure he wasn’t imagining things (which he wasn’t). 

“Is it me or is the Handbook for the Recently Deceased listening to us? Because now it’s showing Charles, Delia, and Betelgeuse’s names.”


	37. Impulse

"Now that's strange," commented Barbara, glancing down at the bottom of the page in the Handbook that they were currently on. "And that makes me wonder if it's trying to tell us something."

Adam turned to his wife, nodding in agreement. "And I think you're onto something, hon. I'm beginning to think all of these words that we've been seeing show up in the pages of the Handbook are connected somehow; have something in common with each other. And the fact that they're only just appearing in the section of the book that covers mediumship... do you think that has something to do with the reason why Lydia was the only living person who could see us at first?"

"I... never really thought about that," Barbara stifled a laugh. 

Lydia moved to the living room, a half eaten granola bar in hand and sat herself down on a chair opposite her dad, Delia, and the Maitlands. She took another few bites of it and set the wrapper aside as she turned her attention onto all four adults. "You guys happen to find any more words yet?" 

"Not yet, Lydia," Barbara replied, her, Adam, Charles, and Delia turning their attention back onto the tired looking teenager. 

"Well then... let me know if you happen to find any..." Lydia's tired sounding voice faltered and trailed off halfway through her sentence as she closed her eyes, drifted into sleep, and started to quietly snore. Adam, Barbara, Charles, and Delia looked worriedly at one another then turned their attention back over towards Lydia, who had since lay herself down on the couch across from the one all four adults were sat on. 

The same thing ran through each of their minds.... was the teenager okay?

Barbara stood up and moved to sit herself down on the opposite couch next to the sleeping teenager and shook her awake. Lydia's eyes opened and closed a few times as she sat herself upright and glanced around the living room, her gaze eventually landing on her worried ghost mother. 

"What happened?" the teenager mumbled. 

"You fell asleep," Barbara said, the other three adults nodding in unison. "We were worried something was going to happen."

"Like me just suddenly getting tired at random times all of a sudden?" Lydia questioned in a tired, but curious tone of voice. She closed her eyes again and Barbara tapped her gently again, waking up the teenager. She looked around the living room in a daze. "It happened again, didn't it?"

All four adults nodded in response to the tired looking teenager's question, and Barbara commented, "that's new. Wonder what's going on," as she snapped her fingers, making the teenager stay awake for hopefully the rest of the day. Adam flipped through the Handbook until he got to the same section where they’d found and read out the side effects of being a medium. Maybe having an excessive amount of sleep was a new one??? 

He read through the list again until he got to its bottom. “Aha! There we go. It must have just appeared there. As well as a few more new side effects that weren’t there before.” 

“Can you read the rest of them off?” asked Barbara, turning her attention over towards her husband and the older Deetzes. “That come after ‘having an excessive amount of sleep at random times during the day’?”

Adam nodded, then read out the new set of side effects, “staring blankly at random things at various times, sensing certain things that are either about to happen or may or may not even happen, speaking nonsense, sensitivities to a variety of different things, a loss of self, and feeling that something’s off when it’s really not.” 

The rest of the adults nodded in response as Adam read out each and every one of the new side effects.

THUMP!!!

All four adults focused their attention towards the carpeted floor of the living room just in time to find an unconscious Lydia laying on her side in the middle of it. The four of them acted on impulse, each of them immediately standing up from where they were sitting and kneeling down around the teenager. Barbara quickly snapped her fingers to create a sort of electric shock, used it to try to rouse the teenager, and Lydia’s eyes snapped open as soon as possible as she rolled over onto her back and glanced up at all four of the worried looking adults. 

“I didn’t fall asleep this time, did I?” Lydia asked tiredly as if it was the least of everyone else’s worries. 

Barbara shook her head. “No. I think... we think you just happened to lose consciousness as per the side effects of mediumship. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again. Did something happen? Did you see something of any sort? Sensed anything?” 

“I think I saw the barrier between this world and the Netherworld weakening, thinning, and disappearing completely. Which may happen very soon...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A headcanon of mine is that the reason why Lydia was the only living person able to see the Maitlands at first is because she’s always been a medium and you can’t convince me otherwise.
> 
> Also... cliffhanger... 🤫🤫🤫


End file.
